Whittaker pro debut date set, plus Clarke return and Dubois

Ben Whittaker, the Olympic silver medallist at the Tokyo Games last year, will make his professional debut on July 30, live on Sky Sports.

Whittaker was originally due to have his first pro fight on July 2, but that show was cancelled when headliner Hughie Fury was ruled out due to illness. Now Whittaker, a star in the making after his impressive Olympic campaign, will box on July 30.

“I think there is a lot of expectation around Ben Whittaker, and I think for the right reasons, and we’re going to see that,” Whittaker’s promoter Ben Shalom told Sky Sports News.

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“He’s incredibly excited, he’ll be starting at light-heavyweight and he’ll want to move quickly as well.”

“He will now be out on July 30,” Shalom added. “Seeing SugarHill [Steward, his trainer] and Ben working together – that is something to behold for boxing fans. It’s something I know so many people are excited about.

“They’re going to put on a show.”

In Tokyo, Whittaker was part of GB’s most successful Olympic boxing team in a hundred years. Joining him on the card in July will be two of his former team-mates from that squad, Frazer Clarke and Caroline Dubois.

Clarke, the super-heavyweight bronze medallist in Tokyo, has been recovering from a hand injury and is now due to have his second pro bout on July 30. Dubois will have her third fight of the year so far on the same card.

“Frazer will be on that show as well,” BOXXER promoter Shalom said. “He’s back now, back in training and ready to fight.

“So it’s a big card on July 30 with Ben Whittaker’s debut, Caroline Dubois will be out as well.

“It’s exciting now because you’re starting to see the new stars of the future,” Shalom continued. “Now with Ben Whittaker, with Adam Azim, with Frazer Clarke, with Lauren Price, with Karriss (Artingstall), Caroline (Dubois), you can see where we could get to in the next few years and that’s what’s exciting.

“To see them all come through together will be amazing.”

Liam Smith ‘perfect fight’ for Chris Eubank Jr

The next fight for Chris Eubank Jr is another big event waiting to be set.

Eubank is promoted by Wasserman Boxing and boxes on Sky Sports. In Ben Shalom’s view Liam Smith, the seasoned former WBO super-welterweight champion, is the ideal next opponent for Eubank Jr.

“For me the perfect fight is Liam Smith. I think that’s the fight the fans are calling for. I think that’s a fight fans are potentially seeing as a 50-50,” Shalom said.

“Liam Smith’s almost peaking now. He’s had two great wins [against Anthony Fowler and then Jesse Vargas]. He looks like he’s in really, really good form, he’s willing to come up and fight Chris at middleweight. So that seems like a great fight.”