Light heavyweight contender Ben Whittaker (10-0-1, 7 KOs) dropped Benjamin Gavazi (19-2, 13 KOs) twice en route to a first-round knockout to win the vacant WBC Silver 175-lb belt on Saturday night at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England.
Gavazi never stood a chance, as he was almost immediately backed up by the 2020 Olympic Silver medalist, Whittaker, with right hands, and then put on the canvas with a shot to the head.
It didn’t look like a big punch, but it was the area that it landed, which was to the side of Gavazi’s head, that did the damage. Whittaker appeared to swat him with his right hand, almost like hitting a fly.
Gavazi peeled himself off the canvas, not looking strong on his feet. Sensing his prey was hurt, Whittaker bum-rushed the German fighter, landing short punches on the inside. Ben then nailed him with a 1-2 combination that planted Gervazi on the floor. He landed back first with both arms out to his sides.
The referee, Mark Bates, then swooped in and waved it off right away. There was no chance that the badly hurt Gavazi was going to get back up and resume fighting. If he had been crazy enough to get up, it would have been bad for him because he was too hurt, too slow, and too overmatched to mount any kind of defense.
You’ve got to hand it to promoter Eddie Hearn. This was the perfect match-up to make Ben Whittaker look like a priceless diamond and help build his worldwide following.
“All I can say is, ‘Wow.’ Sometimes people come into an arena, and they light up the place,” said promoter Eddie Hearn, reacting to Whittaker’s win. Gavazi came in with 19 straight wins. We know there are many levels above him to where we’ve got to get to.”