5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce - Whittaker's surgical masterclass

Episode Date: April 19, 2026

How clinical was Ben Whittaker? Richie Woodhall and Buncey break down his first-round stoppage of Braian Suarez in Liverpool, with reaction from Whittaker, Eddie Hearn and Andy Lee. Plus, they look back at the other fights on the undercard.

This is Five Live Boxing. They came out in Liverpool for a real fight and they got the real fight. It might have only lasted two and a half minutes, but that's irrelevant because Ben Whittaker announced himself firmly. That's what you do when you're that type of fighter. I'm Steve Bunce and this is Five Live Boxing. So the official ending was two minutes and 24 seconds of round one in front of 5,000 people at the MNS Bank Arena in Liverpool. Ben Whitaker remains unbeaten and Brian Suarez was rolling around on the floor

in no fit state to continue. He did complain saying it was at the back of the head to shop, absolute rubbish. There was devastating, sickening punches to the body and then a right hand to the temple. Legitimate knockout. One round. Ben Whittaker, one round.

Now, I like to line up the people that talk to me at these pods after fights. I like to choose special people. If there's a, I don't know, if there's a reason for it, I'll use Tasha Jonas. If there's a reason for it, I'll use Barry Jones. I'll use Carl Frampton.

I'll use Neville Brown even. But when there's a real reason, when you've got someone that was part of the GB system, up until very recently, someone that's been around that GB block. There's only one man I can use as we approach midnight in a dungeon somewhere at the M&S Bank Arena. And that is, of course, Richie Woodall. Richie, welcome back.

Let me just say one thing. I'm not putting words in your mouth. That was clinical tonight. That was chilling tonight from Ben Whittaker. Yeah, it was. It was special indeed. And to be quite honest, Steve, it's what I expected. I think the introduction I said before of Andy Lee

has really sort of brought him back down to earth and got him to do things obviously in the gym that he's probably forgot about. And he's making him do things. And it's hard. It's hard work for him. Because I know what Andy's like. I think it's been the best move for him.

And he'd come out and, you know, We know his showboats, we know all that, but the kid can fight. And when the bell went, he literally ran to the centre of the ring, as if to say, this is where I live. And those jabs were like right crosses, weren't? They were devastating jabs. You got to remember, Steve, he's six foot three, six foot four. He's a huge light everywhere.

He's got a fantastic reach. And Andy Lee's making him use that reach. Straight away, the jab was crisp, it was sharp, it was accurate from the centre of the ring. And he dominated, didn't it, the end of the day, measuring the... measuring and keeping his distance. But the knockout and the body shots, especially, the left-ups to the body were absolutely chilling and sickening. And they probably did as much damage as that last shot did.

That actually knocked him out. It was a tremendous performance. Now, I know it sounds like a cliche to say that Suarez, Brian Suarez was a really tough Argentinian, but guess what? Brian Suarez was a really tough Argentian. With a very dangerous-looking record, He'd won 21 times and 20 of those have been by knockout or stoppage.

And what's more, I can assure you, he didn't wander to the ring like a man walking towards the gallows. He didn't wander towards the ring like a man with a payday and look over in his corner at three of his powers who had flown over for a seven-day Beatles jolly. They were confident, Steve. Bingo, they were really confident. This was their chance to jump into something big, not be done in as, what is it, two minutes and 24. You know what, Steve, I always say that a lot of fighters are very vulnerable early on in a fight, you know, especially that first round. And it was probably a classic case there.

He took some real good shots, but the body shots in particular, you just don't get over. When you take shots like that, it doesn't matter if it's in the first round or the last round. You're going down or you really hurt from those body shots. And it sets up the finish. But like I say, a lot of fighters taking shots to the head are more vulnerable in the first round than they are in the later rounds. and Ben has started really, really quick and sharp and he's caught him with some powerful shots at the end of the day. Richard, let's just clear up because there will be no doubt

there'll be some people who are criticising various people. The referee might be criticised for not disqualifying Ben for a punch to the back of the head. Let's just clear it up once and from. It was a full legitimate temple shot. It was a temple shot. We see shots like that all the time, side of the head, temple shot. It wasn't the back of the head. It was a legal shot.

It was a perfectly good shot and it was a chilling knockout that was. And the thing is, Rich, I mean, Ben might have been nicer to get a few rounds. It might have been nice to get a few rounds. But when you're punching like that, when you've got a chance to get out, you can't play a round of a man that's won 20 out of 21

by stoppage or knockout, even if some of those opponents were not that good. That's irrelevant. Plus, he's proven himself to be tough. He's proven himself to be hard and dangerous. He did it here a few years ago with Lyndon Artho in an IBO title where he dropped Arthur

and had Arthur in all sorts of hurt and pain. I was ringside that night. So you have to get them out of there. And that's what Ben did. He was tasked with getting him out of there quick in chilling fashion, and that's what he did. Yeah, he set his stall out, didn't he at the end of the day?

I think the way he started with the jab in particular, I think Sharra's just couldn't cope with that and probably didn't expect it to be so quick, so accurate. And, you know, Ben's a good move as well. Oh, Stephen, he's a clever kid, you know, and people do forget that. So when he throws that jab, and he's moving his feet also, he's difficult to actually nail with a shot when he's on the ball.

And like I say, I like the approach. I liked his ring walk. I was really watching him. And he's taking it serious now. And we know that there's that side to him where he showboats a lot. And yeah, yeah, it's entertainment. But I think Andy Lee is, like I said, he's keeping his feet on the floor. He's making him focus on what he's got to do.

and how hard this game is. He's entertaining as he goes along, so he's the complete package up to now. We will hear from Andy Lee in a moment. Now, I just think I should just add a fashion warning here. There will be an awful lot of conversations and mentions in sentences and conversations between now and the end of this pod

about Ben Whittaker's leather outfit, in particular the Belero-style jacket and especially the shorts, the red leather shorts with a zip on the back. So if you're easily offended by, of men and women on a sports podcast talking about fashion, you probably should just go and do something else for the next few minutes. I'm only kidding.

Stick with us. Because when we discuss fashion, when Woodall talks about fashion, when Andy Lee talks about fashion, when Eddie Hearn and myself discuss fashion, it's top-tier fashion conversation. It really is. Anyway, it all starts when I climbed up in the ring at the end to have a word with the still undefeated Olympic silver medalists from

2021. I still say 2021, even though people say 20-20 in Tokyo. Ben Whittaker. Listen, first of all, the outfit has caused a bit of concern. There's a lot of envy. Richie Woodall is swearing that he would like it. Stacey fancies a little bit of the lever. I've actually put in a claim on the shorts if they're coming extra large. All jokes aside, clinical, nasty finish. Another little bit of side of Ben, the side that you and I talk about. I thought it was a great finish. Andy Lee's joined us as well. Yeah, it was a great fight. Like I said, on paper. He's a very good fighter.

Take nothing from it. I'd be a world title challenger. More knockouts than I've had fights. And I went out there and just dismantled him. I thought he'd go a couple rounds. But in the back of my head, I know if I hit him the way I'm hitting, it would be over. And it ended the way I thought he would end.

They tried a little sort of scream up at the end about it being behind the ear. It wasn't. It was clearly a temple shot, a legitimate temple shot, and that was about the only gap because he was holding his hand so high. You know, the body shot's phenomenal. He might have gone down anyway from the body shot.

Yeah, see. You know you're boxing, man. That's what actually said up. I hate him to the body, and as a fight, you can hear it. I heard that. Well, yeah, he's ready now. So I touched him to the body again, made the gap. He ran the side.

And when they started complaining, you know you've hurt them. That's what I thought. I just thought, yeah, it's over now. And if he did get up, it would have got worse. So he did the best thing staying down and fair play to him. I do all the theatrics. I know I have to play the crowd. Will you do?

Yeah, I shook his hand after. I said, God bless him. Thank you for taking a fight. And there's nothing else to it. Ben, listen, I don't like to do he said, she said, but we've got to do a bit of he said she said here. There's an awful lot of fighters out there, and your name is appearing in their mouths,

and you're not necessarily standing in the middle of the ring, screaming, I'll take him, I'll take him, I'll take him, I know you'd take anybody. Who would be made me top of Ben Whit, especially after this performance? Who would maybe be top of your shopping list in Great Britain? I think there's 15 fighters? There's so many, and I'm honest, you can't run before you can walk. Saware's great bite, but, I should, me personally, how good I am, and how good I know I am,

I should be doing that to them fighters. Absolutely. You know what I mean? So I can't get, oh, yeah, you know, first round knock out. I'll have did my job. We'll go out to America. We'll see what level to get me there. We'll take that out.

Then from there, I think I'm more than ready because my skills show, the power show, my composure is showing, and I'm in a good place. Is it important to you that you make a name for yourself in America, that you shine in America? Is that important to you? Yeah, I think it's the place for me, really. I've got the skill. I've got the charisma.

I think they'll like me out there. So they certainly will like you out there. So in America, imagine that performance in America on a big undercard? Man, I think they would go wild. I'd lift the roof off. And that's the top of places and venues. And that's the dream for me.

But I do love England. Even if I get a bit of stickier, I love it here. But sticks part of it. I mean, you know, you've been getting stick. People think you've only started doing the sort of Ben Whittaker stuff last year. You've been doing it since you were a teenager, since you were a little boy?

Exactly. I've been doing it since, yeah, the amateurs. I've been doing it all around the... I'm upsetting people. Yeah, exactly. I've been doing it on the international scene. I've been doing it on my little home shows in pubs.

I've been doing it in sparring. It's just me. And when it comes out, it's dangerous. Ben there was stylish with his answers as his kit was stylish, Rich. He's ready now to move on a little bit. He's also not calling out better be able to be able. Exactly. He sounds, you know, he knows what he was.

Sensible. Just a little step, step, step. I was more impressed with his words there because he didn't, even when you said about the British boxes, he's not going to call anyone out. He knows where he is in the game. He knows where he's going. He says, yeah, let's go over to America, see what they bring for me there.

So that's the sensible approach. He's not calling anyone out, but he knows that he's on a road that's just going to the top. And I really believe that, and he'll just take it in his stride. Now, yes, he's talked about America. I think the Americans will absolutely look. So do I. He's a mate. He'll be a Vegas fighter, Ben, Wichickie. He's made for it. He has that performance

like he had tonight on an undercard in Vegas or an undercard in New York or an undercard Atlantic City. Then we might struggle to get him back. Don't worry about that. The Rich, I'm going to, I'm going to say something to you now that I believe in, but people might say that's rubbish bunsey. Because Ben Whittaker is so flamboyant and, you know, he's flashed to a degree, that's part of his part of his character. And because he does showboat, there will be people both trainers, managers, promoters and boxers who believe they can walk from him.

Look at how it was with Nassim Hamid. Half of Nassim Hamid's opponents couldn't believe that this guy would even touch them, let alone knock them spark out, break their jaws and front knock out seven of their teeth, which he did on a regular basis. And there will be people lining up, calling their managers and promoters tonight,

saying, get me with you go, I can beat him, I can take care of him. And Steve, that's why Andy Lee is the jewel in the crown in the camp because he will make him train for 12 rounds, 10 rounds, no matter what it is, I'm pretty sure that

no matter what pace that would have been tonight, he would have done 10 rounds and he'd have done it in his sleep. And that's because of the conditioning that Andy Lee will have put him through. So yes, Andy Lee knows that he's flamboyant, knows that, you know, and you can't take that away from him?

No, you can't because... Clip it a little bit, but you can't destroy it. We're all individuals and you can't... You can't stop individual flare, Steve, at the end of the day. You've got to let it blossom and you've got to let him go his own way. But I honestly think that Andy Lee knows all that, but he's also got old of him whispering his ear, listen, I don't mind you doing all that.

But you've got to neglect the other stuff. Exactly. You've got to get up in the morning. You've got to run. You've got to do your sparring. You've got to do all the bits that you don't want to do. That's what you have got to do. Ritchie, let me ask you, when you were with him at the squad,

when he was, you know, because he wasn't, you know, two years before those Olympics, he wasn't a guarantee, if you remember, rightly. He was not a late developer, but there were other fighters floating around, and, you know, he wasn't necessarily the number one light heavyweight, even 18 months out. He forced his way through, and I remember coming up and doing a piece from him, you Sam Bunsey, Stevie Boy, I fancy he's going to do so. Just put people at ease that when he's away from the ring and the spotlight

and the red leather and coming into music and the choreography that he uses, When he's away from that, he trains like an absolute dog. Yeah, he trains really, really hard. However, I remember on GB at one point, we was having a few problems with Ben, and it took Rob McCracken to get old of him and say, Oi, you've got to get your act together you have. I'm sending you here, I'm sending you there. Hard tournaments, right.

Yeah, and he says, you've got to get your head down into the training, you know. And Rob had to have a real good talk to him. Right act. I like the riot act. Yeah, exactly. And once he did that, he got his head down and then he performed. Because a Ben Whittaker, Steve, who is fit, who can go 12 rounds, he's going to be an extremely hard person to beat.

Mark my words, because he's got all that flash, he's got all that skill, he's got all that natural ability. But when he's 100% fit as well to go those 10 and 12 rounds, mate, he's going to be something else. And long may, the opposition, even the British 10 or 12 fighters that are around or the other 10 or 12 on the world stage, feel that he's an easy touch, maybe making the arrangements for the fights a bit easier.

Now, I did give you a warning a few minutes ago about fashion. I spoke to Eddie Hearn in the ring, and I'm not going to lie, there's an awful lot of fashion, and also one or two pointers for your summer travel in this piece. Here I am with Eddie Hearn. Actually, I'm only joking, because Eddie always makes sense

when he's dis-excited at the end of a good night. Eddie, um, listen, a fantastic finish. We know he can bang, we've seen that. Sometimes that's overlooked that he's actually, I'm going to whisper with it. He's quite nasty in the ring, isn't he? Really spiteful puncher. And I think what he said there was quite interesting. He said, when you watch me early in my career, I was mucking around.

And he was. I mean, he doesn't do that anymore. He doesn't do the bolos and the backhand slap and all that kind of stuff. But that was to get the attention. That was to get the numbers. And that was to become the draw that he is. But I've said it before. He's an elite fighter.

He's an Olympic silver medalist. He's one of the best amateurs in England. in a hard year. Exactly. And like, now he's with Andy Leaks all come into fruition. I wanted rounds.

I'm glad that Suarez has been here before. We've seen him in a back and forth war with Arthur, knocking down Arthur, just gone the distance with a really top Russian

banger as well. So you don't do that to Brian Tuarez, but what he did was he frustrated him a little bit. He picked him apart. He made him a little bit mad. He made him unravel.

And he just knocked him. I mean, they were complaining about back head. It was nowhere near the back of the head. It was here. And it was a beautiful shot. But he's a big, big 175. I stand next to you.

I'm 6'5. He's a huge, like, heavyweight. This fight was actually made at 183 pounds, because he was just saying, oh, that was nice. I said, don't get used to that. So, look, I truly believe, when you look at not just our roster,

but the slate of British boxers right now, show me another fighter like Ben Whittaker, who has got that star quality, but also that elite ability as well. He's the guy. He's the guy, and we're going to do our very best to do it, just perfectly. Eddie, I'm not sure there is one to be perfectly. I think he's in some sort of

elite group, middle group on his own. Obviously, he's not as big an attraction as some of the big heavy weights. I mean, the fighters coming through. Absolutely. He's untouching. I mean, look, I know we've got Moses and all those kind of guys, but like with all due respect, there's swag and there's swag. Like, you can force swag or you can just have it. Me and you force it, bunsey. Do you know what I mean? We do. I'm about to say that. We try so hard, but we just haven't got it. That kid walks down the ring wall. I'm going, you're so cool. You're so You know, and listen, you're going to get mixed opinions. That's what you want.

That's exactly what you want. Stars have, but he's got it. If I see a picture of you in Monaco on a boat somewhere in the summer, there's an obligatory picture of you every single summer. And if you've got red leather shorts on, okay, with zips on the... All right, with bones all over it. I mean, look, who can wear a red leather outfit with skeleton bones on it and glitter all over the shoes and still look cool?

And make you want to get it? Exactly. Yeah, yeah. But I think I'll leave it, Buncey. to be honest with you, but yeah. I'm definitely a little. Listen, I've got to ask you a serious question, although I'd like to talk about clothes all summer.

As you know, I'm going to close mad. Ed, he's talking about going to America. He wants to go to America. There will be a decent grade of opponent, and it's not just going to be like some sort of easy tour, is it? It'll be American and a good quality American as well. To be honest, the big fight is going to come in August, September, back in Birmingham,

and that's going to be either a final eliminator for the world title or a big domestic fight. And he needs that, because I said to Andy, when I got in the ring tonight, mate, don't miss the boat in terms of when he's ready, because, like, you can become stale. If you're, luckily, we're keeping him active now. But don't forget, he fought in November,

and now he had five months out. He's only done two rounds, so we need to keep the activity. It's really important, but we're going to use this experience in America to go in there against a good, solid opponent and just grow his star power, return back to Birmingham in a big, big fight.

And 2027, and after that fight in Birmingham, that's it, he's ready. And look at the division, mate. I mean, you've got... Brilliant. Better B'Ev, Benavides. It ain't easy. I promise...

It ain't easy to be the champion of Britain. I think he's pound for pound top three. I truly believe he will be able to compete at that level. With Bivol, Benavides, Bette, those kind of guys. He's got that ability. Now, it's all very well saying it. You've got to show it. But we know his pedigree.

And we know that if he gets into that flow state with Andy Lee, he's going to be very difficult to beat. So Eddie, they're confirming that he'll fight in May or June in America against a decent opponent and I think it has to be a decent opponent and then confirming it will be back here so I'm hoping that fight in August is against one of those

it probably won't be Callum Smith because Callum Smith who was meant to be top of the bill tonight who's in the audience will be fighting here in a fight in Liverpool or somewhere global for lots of money but could it be Joshua Baratsi Dan Aziz I don't think it'll be Willie Hutchinson Hutchinson they might try and make him go up this route Craig Richards these are good

these are good domestic fighters Guys that have been in World Tournament. Could it be Anthony Yard? Could it be a final fight for Anthony Yard? I mean, any of those fights are big. Linden Arthur. Linden Arthur. Could it be any of them?

I've just named eight or nine fighters there. Like I say, Steve, Ben Whittaker is on the fringe of those fighters, of those fighters, like your Callum Smiths, Joshua Boatsy, Hutchinson, Craig Richards, Anthony Yard, Zach Parker. People like that, Lyndon Arthur. Terrific fighters. But Steve, he's on the fringes of those boxes. But all those fighters have had nearly double the fights that he's had. Between them, they've had about 35 or 40 major fights, well-than-British.

But Steve, what I'm trying to say is that he's probably going to be a victim of his own success, and I've said that many times about fighters that knock guys out early on in fights. But what he needs, what he needs more than anything, he probably needs to go out four or five. If he's got, he's only got, what, a round in tonight, he probably needs to go out probably four or five times before the end of the year. And also, Rich, he's 28, but he's a 28-year-old baby. You know what I mean by that? He's not a worn 28 with 7-08, 9 hard fights on it. He's had a couple of half-difficult rounds with Liam Cameron.

Doesn't take many shots, Steve. Doesn't take many shots, so he's got, you know, he's a 28-year-old that hasn't been hit a lot. Olympic silver medallist, you know. And there's a fight for the future. I looked at that Arlon Lopez is now pro. Yeah. He's something like 6-0. Could you imagine in the future, Ben versus Arlen Lopez for a lot.

a world's style. That's a fight that I like to see. Outdoors, that'll do me. What? Do the baggies have a big ground? I don't know about the bag. I'm just asking. I mean, I'm not sure if you know. They have the greatest football ground in the world. God, why don't you, you should, you know what? You should, when you say that, you should stand up. They're the greatest football ground in all the world. I was actually quite pleased for they announced he was from West Bromwich today. Oh, no, that's lovely, really. But also, also, Ballybreck in Ireland.

From Ballybreck in Dublin and West Bromwich in the Midlands. Get in myself. So, also, Rich. I know that you've praised Andy Lee a lot. I did speak to Andy Lee. Again, here comes the warning. There's an awful lot of fashion. Here I am with Andy Lee from Ballybrack in a stunning red outfit. Andy, I do want to talk about the fight,

but it seems everyone is infatuated with Ben's leather shorts, your jacket. It's incredible. I've already put in a bid for an extra large and a 38 inch waist pair of shorts. I thought it was clinical. And that was that side of Ben that not a lot of people see that Ari can finish when he wants to finish.

The outfits, you know what, Ben designs them all. He choreographs his ring walks, the songs, he did it down to the detail and he has, he thinks a lot about it. Like he puts a lot of detail and effort into it and it's all part of the showman, you know? Yeah, he's meticulous. He is meticulous and he's meticulous once he gets in the ring as well. People might think, you know, he's a bit random and he's moving his feet and he might do a little jog here. No, no, everything, I know, everything he does, he means. means?

It wasn't a step out of place today. Binga. Or a punch out of place. He wasted nothing. I think he landed on early every shot you through. I think there was one hook early, but that was all. I think it was a perfect performance. He didn't couldn't do anything better.

And we've been now. We've got 1015 named British fighters. Some of them are moving towards the end of their careers, guys like Lyndon Arthur, guys like Anthony Yard, guys like Dan Aziz, guys like Callan Smith. They've all been in five, six, seven, eight, nine big fights. you know between them joshua beratsi as well and then there's a couple of younger ones then there's a lot on the world stage it's kind of easy and kind of hard to pick where you go with ben but who would you in an ideal and the andy lee crystal ball moment what would you do for the next couple of

fights he's got his debut in america coming up in june i i know the opponent but it's not for me to reveal it it's going to be a step up again he's had another step up and when after that experience he's going to come back and fight one of these domestic guys. He has to. The light heavy division in this country has been one of the best for years, world class, and you've got Callum Smith, Anthony Yard, Boatzi, Lyndon Arfah, Craig Richardson, Willie Hutchison, Willie Hutchison, yeah, Zach Parker.

All these guys would be good fights, good domestic fights. I'm better to be ready for them. Those guys have what he doesn't have is experience. And fighting those guys that he will gain. So that's the next step after America. Andy, does it bother you that there are still people that if you mention Ben Whittaker, go, I hate him, he's a flash desk. Now, I've known Ben a while,

not as long as Richie's known him, but I've known him a while. I know that that is not Ben. I know that what we see when he maybe leaves the dressing room with his gloves on to make his way down this ramp to the ring and what he does in the ring is a different character to the other bend. Do you sort of get the urge to try and put people straight who just say, yeah, whatever, whatever?

You know, outside the ring, he's very humble, very quiet. humble, very quiet, doesn't drink, doesn't go out anywhere. All he does is train and want to be better at boxing. So if you come into the ring with that attitude, humble and quiet, you're gonna get beat. He has to change, he has to be a different persona when he walks out. He's a surgeon, like the Gypsy King and Tyson Fury,

they're different people. And no, he's got that confidence because he works so hard. And just finally, he loves the team spirit that you've created in your gym, in your club, let's get it that way. Hamja Shia has paddy there, big Joe Parker floating around, and now Ben. I mean, so they're sort of competing against each other,

but hopefully they're all still friends. He really loves that atmosphere. Can you sense that from him? Yeah, to be in that environment, who you're around is who you become. And it's excellent. And I'm very blessed to train those four fighters, because to me, they're some of the most talented fighters in the world.

It's just a buzzing gym, and Bally Brack is on the map now. Bally Brack is on the map. I love that. I love that he was introduced as Ben Whittaker from Ballybrackner today. Yeah, that was his decision as well. Listen, and it's a pleasure and a delight talking to you. Hamza, all good for May 23rd, whatever it is? Paddy's out 15th in Germany.

He's got a tough fight against Karen Kersk's dive for IBF Eliminator. And then Hamza's got the world title fight in Egypt. And might we get some news about Joseph Parker at some point? Joe was confident about a week ago. He thought it might be really soon. He's waiting for results any day. You know how long these things. take.

And he's confident of being exonerated. So we'll see. You know, we'll see. It's difficult time for him, but he's weathered it well, spent time with Tyson,

and he's invested his time well with Tyson, you know, and he's come back for it now. And listen, it's pleasure talking to you. Thanks very much for your time. Thanks, Andy. So Andy Lee, Rich, acknowledging that he knows who the opponent is in America and it's a good opponent,

and then he'll come back. And also talking on this, and this is the stuff you will like. I know you couldn't, you weren't with me when I did the interview with him, but also talking to me about how the gym, the club atmosphere works. Hamzeshire.

And he said, you're only as good as the people you're working with. Joe Parker, Paddy Donovan, all in big flights, all been in big flights. I knew Ben would like it there. So Ben, you see, now,

is in a gym environment like GB, where you've got real good fighters around you, like your Pat McCormack's, like you got all your fires. You see what I mean, Steve, he's in that type of environment now where he's got good fighters around him and he thrives in that environment

working with good fighters but for me like I say Andy Lee I can't talk highly enough about Andy Lee I think he's a very very good coach very stable coach and like I said it many times tonight he's keeping Ben's

feet on the ground lets him do all that other stuff but he knows and drills it home to him what he's got to do in the gym that's the important thing That is the important thing. So Andy Lee there sort of finishing putting a sort of full stop on Ben Whitaker's night, which was, I think, spectacular. There would always be people who say,

but I knew he was going to win in a round. Well, if you knew he was going to win a round and you also like to gamble, and you've got to gamble responsibly, obviously, the odds would have been sensation or trust me. Most people would have thought that it had been taking a few rounds today. And softening him up and working down. Six or seven? Because that's probably what the game plan was for Chorres.

But he pound. Once he had him hurt from the body shots. They were thinking, let's take him into deeper waters later on in the fight and let's try and get... That's what they thought. The next time you watch a little bit of whichever way you watch fights back, have another look at Ben Whittaker and try and discover what Richard and I have known for a while and what Eddie Hearn was talking about, just how vicious he can be as a finisher.

Forget the smiles, forget how nice this kid is and how he can be. He finishes savagely. Now, obviously, Ben's not from Liverpool. Callum Smith is from Liverpool, and Callum Smith, as Eddie said, was responsible for a few more thousand tickets but they still had five and a half thousand in and you and I kept doing our test where we took our headset off do you remember?

Yeah. Well, there was a singer here called, I think it's Jamie Webster. That's his name. Brilliant. He wasn't brilliant. He was beyond brilliant. He sang two songs,

Liverpool bass songs, songs that they knew, sort of hymns. But the crowd knew and they were sing along and you and I took a heads off. I had a head off when we were live on Five Live, got myself a yellow card from Paddy to producer

because Stacey was talking to me and I had my head's off because I was singing. I was getting emotional. The crowd would love with it. And then Molly McCann, Meatball Molly McCann came in. And she fought an eight two rounds, eight rounds of two minutes against Ashley Johnson. Ashley Johnson's record was six fights, three wins, three defeats. Molly was only having a full fight.

She's only had three wins. So between the two of them, they had six wins. They fought like it was the follow-up to Frilla in Manila, like it was the 50. round and it was life and death who got through it. The crowd were going crazy. We were going crazy in commentary. It was absolutely ridiculous. But Rich, I've got to revisit it slightly.

How did we get so sucked in to a fight? Unbelievable. There was just 16 minutes long with not a single belt on the line between two novices, Molly and Ashley. How do we get sucked in, Rich? I don't know. It was just such an entertaining contest.

I think Ashley Johnson really played here part as well. She came forward. Pretty basic in her approach. Kipped the hands nice and high and she tried to get to Molly McCann. Who I thought boxed. A brilliant fight. Yeah, she did. A natural switch hitter. She can go orthodox. You can go

South Pole. A head movement was excellent. For someone only having her fourth contest, I thought she fought like a pro. Like a pro having like 35 or 36 fights. They both did actually. It was such an entertaining, toe to

battle, but it wasn't just a slug fest, Steve. I thought there was loads of skills demonstrated by both boxes, in particular Molly McCann. I thought her skills were lovely. Some of her head movement, throwing shots from different angles. I thought she boxed really, really well. It was a fight where she probably won most of the rounds, but she had to work.

Every round was a war. Every second of every round. She couldn't let up because this Ashley Johnson just kept coming. What a fight, probably the fight of the night. Now, an awful, excuse me, an awful long time ago, Molly won an ABA title when she was boxing. I mean she boxed for a rotunda. She might, I hope that's right. If it's wrong, I apologise.

And after that, after her amateur stuff, she stopped that. She loved MMA. She got into MMA. She was with various organisations. And she eventually fought on the UFC roster. As she fought here, as she fought in London. She fought, I think, in New York or someone like that. She was in big fights.

She made decent money. Not great money, but decent money. But she was a star. She came back to boxing last year when I think she was 34. or the first fight was in September of last year over in Belfast. You were there, I think, well, you were there. Or if you weren't there, someone else was there. Well, I was definitely there.

So, and it was, it was, she won comfortably. That was when the woman tried the kung fu kick on her, which was ridiculous. You're boxing Molly McCann, who's a M.MA specialist, and you try a kung fu kick. That's the, that's the, I would have remembered that, so I wasn't there, Steve. But the point I'm making me is that she's 35 now.

What would have happened if she had a stadium boxing? You know, she was like a contemporary of the Tasha Jonas. What is she had a stadium boxing at, 22, 23, 24. Yeah, incredible really for 35 years of age and to put in a performance like she did tonight. Her energy and her boxing skills and her boxing brain, I thought she was really, really good.

But yes, she certainly doesn't look. She fought like someone 10 to 15 years younger than what she is. Yeah, you know, she really did. And if you're wondering why we're talking so long about a three-belt or a four-bout novice now. Incredible fight. It's because, A, it was an incredible fight. And B, she's meatball molly McCann.

She's a face, she's a character, and she treats this boxing caper very seriously. Great wins on the undercard here for Joe McGrelle, brother of Pete McGraw. And a great six rounds, I think it was, for Leo Attang, the heavyweight, whose previous fights had ended in the first, first, first, third, and first.

Which I want to leave, I want to leave Liverpool briefly before we go off into the night, finding our Somozes and getting our car journey home, because that's what we do when we leave fights. You know, people think we're up until 4 o'clock in the morning in the bar or trying to find... or trying to find karaoke bars at five or six in the morning. That's ridiculous.

We're in a car sitting on the M6 eating samosas. Yeah, that's what we do. Listening to Queen. I'm listening to the Queen. Yeah, that's what we're doing. Carpool karaoke with a samosa. That's Richie a month at 2 o'clock in the morning. Rich, next week in Paris, I won't be there, you won't be there,

but I wanted to be there for Tony Yoker's homecoming. 2016, super heavyweight. I know he lost his way a little bit and he lost a couple of decisions to Martin Bacoli, Carlos Takam, and we had Murray. One was the majority, and the other two. who were splits. Those are the only blemishes in his career. He's 33 now. He's still young enough. He's fighting Lawrence Ocoli,

who was also at the same Olympics at Cruiserweight, didn't make it to the medals. O'Coli is quite a heavy favourite, but I'm not quite sure Tony Yoker's finished. I don't want to talk about this for long, but as it's an, as they both have amateur pedigree, and we were both in Rio, I think this is a really

interesting fight. I think it's a test for both of them. It's a test for both of them. I think I actually think Tony Yoker is a slight favorite being on home soil. I think it'd be difficult to be in Paris. Six and seven, Yoko, can we forget that? Yeah, big, big guy. And the reason why I think is a slight favourite,

because Steve also, I don't think he can afford to lose. I think if he loses this one, he's finished, yeah. Whereas if Lawrence loses, then he could possibly come back. So that's why I think, slight favourite for Tony Yoker. But again, I was involved with Lawrence. Lawrence. Lawrence Coley's Olympic cycle. This kid, you know, people don't realize,

he can really hit. Yeah. He's a bigger puncher than what people think he is. I've had him on the pads, mate. He can really bang. That's the simple test. How do your elbows feel after him?

Exactly. Along with, I mean, Joshua was one of the hardest, sorry, Anthony Joshua was one of the hardest punch. Probably certainly the rock with the right hand. But Akali was up there with him. He could really bang. And of course he was lighter. So that just goes to show you.

When he brings the opponent onto the shot, I think he's got devastating power. So that's all part of what we've euphemistically called here on Five Live and it's become adopted worldwide. I should have stuck a pattern on it. Heavyweight season. This is our fourth weekend of heavyweight season. And we've had some cracking fights and they're coming up.

There's loads of fights coming up. We will be ringside with Five Live for Daniel Dubois against Fabio Wardley in a world title fight. It's almost too good to be true. Then we might be, I'm hoping we'll be. We'll be in between the pyramids. in Egypt, within the ring, Vico Rieko Verhoeven,

the kickboxing king of the entire planet against Alexander Oussie. Could you imagine Woodhaws tours? Rich, the pyramids. When I say to you, where are we going this morning, which are Woodhaworth's tours, you're going to say, we're going to go round the two pyramids,

past the sphinx, turn left there, duck in via there, go past the camel park and come out of the front. But Rich, that's 20 miles. And you say to me, Bunsey,

How often do we get to walk between the pyramids? We're doing 20 miles. Ritchie, once again, it's been an absolute pleasure and a delight. Tonight we saw Ben Whittaker show just a little bit about what Ben Whitaker is all about, whether he goes to America, whether he fights here. The bottom line is there are half a dozen, maybe even more, like heavyweights for Ben Whittaker to beat. He might just be the biggest young star in Great Britain.

He might just be the next star. I heard someone say to me earlier today when I was getting, getting a coffee. Bunsey, or they did it with a Scouse accent, but I'm not allowed to do accents. I get in trouble. So Buncey, he's going to be the next stadium fighter. He might be.

Tonight, he was brilliant. Richie, you've been brilliant. Once again, it's been a big week. We will be back. Well, we're back every week. Every single week. We're just delivering week after, week after week after week.

When we do Doughton Smith against Art of Puello, which is, I think, on June the 6th, that would be, I think, if I'm not mistaken, 13 consecutive weeks of fights. and it might be about our eighth five live fight. That's our boxing business. It's not just the heavyweight season. It's the boxing season.

Richie, thank you very much and thanks everyone for downloading this and every single pod that you download. I've been Steve Bunce, and this has been a very special five live boxing. New teams. New rules. Redsons.

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