Whittaker could be 'close' to Buatsi fight after US debut

Light-heavyweight Ben Whittaker is set to face Richard Rivera in New York on Saturday in what will be his US debut, but he has eyes on a fight against fellow Englishman Joshua Buatsi next

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>Ben Whittaker could be on a collision course with Joshua Buatsi as he sharpens his skills for a world title fight.

>EThe unbeaten British contender makes his US debut against Richard Rivera on the Xander Zayas vs Jaron Ennis bill in New York in the early hours of Sunday morning.

>Promoter Eddie Hearn believes Whittaker is 'three fights' away from challenging the light-heavyweight world title holders, and a big domestic clash against fellow Englishman Buatsi or Scotland's Willy Hutchinson could happen later this year.

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>"I think me and Buatsi are kind of close," Whittaker told Sky Sports. "I think we're two and three in the WBC [rankings], so something like that could happen.

>"And Willy, I've beaten him before in the amateurs, so it'd be good to get another win over him in the pros.

>"But for me, it's whoever's next, whoever makes sense, whoever's going to get me to where I need to get to."

>Dmitry Bivol, the WBA, WBO and IBF champion, returned with a points win over Michael Eifert last month, while WBC belt holder David Benavidez stepped up to cruiserweight to defeat Gilberto Ramirez in a recent world title fight.

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>"Whoever's got the most belts and whoever's got the most money," said Whittaker when asked to pick a world champion he could face.

>"But as of now, Benavidez has gone up to cruiserweight, so if you had to say someone, Bivol, of course, he's got the most belts as well. But I think the fight that would make a lot of money - the way it's going - is me versus Benavidez."

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>Outlining the plan for Whittaker, Hearn told Sky Sports: "Against those guys, probably another three fights. They are the elite of the elite, and when you fight them, you've got to be ready.

>"So we've got Saturday night, and Whittaker will headline in October against a big domestic name, and then one more, and then he'll be ready for anybody in the division."

>One fighter who Whittaker will not be pursuing is Londoner Zak Chelli, who has claimed that he floored him in a past sparring session.

>"They all call me out, they all call me out, but all I'm going to say is, when we were kids, who got picked for the Commonwealth [Games]? Your man, himself," said Whittaker.

>"Who got picked for Team GB over him? Your man, himself. Who went to the Olympics over me or him? Your man, himself. So, all I got to say is, results don't lie, baby.

>"And they're all calling me out, but he kind of knows his place."

>In the main event, Hearn has urged Ennis to produce a dominant win over Zayas that could pave the way for a world title unification clash against IBF super-welterweight champion Josh Kelly.

>"If he wins this fight on Saturday and becomes unified world champion, there are two other belt holders, Josh Kelly and Sebastian Fundora," Hearn said. "He'll want to chase those fights.

>"He'll [Ennis] try and be undisputed. Then he'll move to 160 [lbs]. Then I think he'll move to 168[lbs]. So, yeah, I'm really excited to see him triumph."

>Watch MVPW-06 in Birmingham, headlined by Mikaela Mayer v Chantelle Cameron and with Caroline Dubois also in action, live on August 29 on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream boxing with no contract.