You can always rely on Tony Bellew to serve up some straight talk and that is exactly what he has done with regards to rising talent Ben Whittaker’s showboating.
Bellew is honest and upfront, and his fighting style matched that – he was rarely one to show off, even when beating the likes of Ilunga Makabu to win the WBC world cruiserweight championship in front of his fans at his beloved Everton’s home stadium, Goodison Park.
Olympic medallist Whittaker is quite different. He likes to dance around before, during and after his fights and after doing so this past week when knocking out Khalid Graidia, he has got people all over the world talking, including Shakur Stevenson who came out as a fan.
Bellew has now spoken on the subject with TalkSport.
“I think it’s each to their own. He’s a very talented boy… it’s not disrespectful, that’s just ridiculous to say. It’s not disrespectful if you’re good enough and can get away with it, and he is – but that will change as he goes up in levels, believe you me. You’re not doing that against guys like Artur Beterbiev or Sergey Kovalev.”
He then had praise for Whittaker’s talents.
“He’s very good at what he does. He’s good at creating headlines. You’ve got to understand he’s come in against a journeyman who’s got absolutely no chance.
“If he doesn’t do what he’s doing, everyone’s forgotten about the fight minutes after they’ve watched it. He wasn’t on the main event but people are still talking about him. Kudos to him. It’s brilliant.”
Whether Whittaker continues to showboat as he goes up the levels, time will tell.