Ben Whittaker booked for US debut as next fight announced on Xander Zayas vs Jaron Ennis undercard

Ben Whittaker is set to face Richard Rivera on the undercard of Xander Zayas vs Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis next.

The 28-year-old British light heavyweight star stopped Braian Suarez inside three minutes earlier this month, having already been lined up to make his US debut if he won.

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Whittaker’s victory over Suarez came five months after ‘The Surgeon’ made a successful debut under the guidance of Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing.

After a fierce two-fight rivalry with fellow Briton Liam Cameron, Whittaker made light work of Benjamin Gavazi in Birmingham, stopping the German in round one.

He now joins a stacked card, co-promoted by Top Rank and Matchroom, with Zayas defending his WBC and WBO super welterweight titles against the highly touted Ennis in the main event.

Billed as ‘The Pursuit of Greatness,’ the bouts take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on June 27.

Also on the card, 22-year-old Emiliano Vargas faces Bryce Mills at super lightweight, and Jahi Tucker takes on Euri Cedeno.

Whittaker ‘can become world champion’

Matchroom Boxing CEO Frank Smith joined talkSPORT Breakfast with Ally McCoist and Gabby Agbonlahor this week and was asked about Whittaker’s promising future.

“I think he can be a superstar of the sport,” Smith said.

“Activity has always been the key since we signed him; he’s going to have had three fights in seven months.

“And I believe he can become a unified world champion.

“We’ve just got to build him at the right pace. When you look at all the names out there, he has all the star power to become a global superstar.

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“That’s why we were so excited to get him and made a big play to sign him.”

Whittaker made his professional debut in July 2022 and has only fought on British soil thus far, apart from two contests against Cameron and Petar Nosic in Saudi Arabia.

More Matchroom shows this week

Matchroom Boxing continues its momentum with two shows in Australia and the UK this week.

Interim WBC super bantamweight champion Skye Nicolson defends her title against Mariah Turner on Wednesday at the Melbourne Pavilion in Victoria.

Elsewhere, Conah Walker faces Sam Eggington in an all-British headliner at Civic Hall in Wolverhampton on Saturday.

Boxing schedule

For all the upcoming fights and results this year, check out talkSPORT.com’s  boxing schedule.