Liam Cameron: ‘Humbled’ Ben Whittaker not the same person as before first fight

Liam Cameron: ‘Humbled’ Ben Whittaker not the same person as before first fight

Ben Whittaker and Liam Cameron went head-to-head ahead of their high-stakes rematch to film the Gloves Are Off on Thursday.

Whittaker and Cameron will fight for a second time on Sunday April 20, live on Sky Sports.

Cameron held rising professional star and Olympic silver medallist Whittaker to a technical decision draw in October when, after they both shockingly tumbled out of the ring, their first fight was brought to an abrupt end.

Injured, Whittaker could not continue and Cameron lambasted him for ‘quitting’.

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Whittaker says he has enjoyed life out of the limelight and has perfected better ways to fall out of the ring for his rematch with Cameron

“It got hard in there and when it gets hard, you want a way out,” Cameron said. “When you’re in pain and the fight’s not going your way, he wanted out of there.

“He wanted no part [of it].”

Whittaker is a flashy fighter when he boxes, renowned now for his showboating. But Cameron believes he has been chastened by their first fight.

“He’s changed a bit. He wasn’t the same person just then [on the Gloves Are Off]. Quite humbled, nice guy. Come in with a different approach. I like that,” Cameron told Sky Sports News.

“I was there to get beat. He was there to show what he was made of… I put a stop to it.”

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Whittaker dismissed suggestions he ‘quit’ in the first fight against Cameron and said he will correct that ‘terrible’ performance

Whittaker responded: “If he wants to go with that [quitting accusation] it’s great, more fuel to the fire.”

Whittaker is determined to settle the score.

“It was like a scene out of WWE,” Whittaker told Sky Sports News. “It’s boxing. These things are not written and we get to run it back.

“Luckily enough judgement day is April 20.”

He added: “It was my worst version and his best version. When I turn up on April 20 you will see my best version.

“A draw is not what you want, it’s a loss in my eyes, looking to right the wrong really and I’m excited to do that.”

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After their controversial first fight, Whittaker and Cameron went head-to-head to announce their rematch on April 20

‘Could be one of Britain’s best of all time’

Whittaker will be working with a new trainer for this rematch, bringing former world champion Andy Lee into his corner.

“I reached out to Ben,” Lee told Sky Sports News. “Because I saw a talent there, more than talent. To let that go unguided without a mentor or without structure would be a travesty.

“You’re going to see a great fight and a great performance,” he added.

“Ben is going to be a generational boxer that we look back on and say maybe one of the best of all time in Britain.”

Watch Whittaker vs Cameron 2 on Sunday April 20, live on Sky Sports.

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