Ben Whittaker given clear path to world title with exciting all-British final eliminator ordered

Brits Ben Whittaker and Joshua Buatsi have been ordered to face each other in a WBC light heavyweight final eliminator.

Providing both men green light the opportunity, then the winner will become the mandatory challenger for full world champion David Benavidez.

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Whittaker improved to 10-0-1 as a professional over the weekend, with a brutal first-round knockout victory over unheralded German Benjamin Gavazi in Birmingham.

In doing so, he picked up the WBC ‘Silver’ trinket and has since been boosted six spots to No.3 in the major sanctioning body’s latest 175lbs rankings.

It remains unclear whether a final eliminator fits into Whittaker’s immediate plans.

New promoter Eddie Hearn recently declared that his client was still five fights away from facing world champions Benavidez and Dmitry Bivol.

“When you’re talking about Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev or David Benavidez, then that’s more like five fights,” Hearn told Ring Magazine.

“Those guys are the goal, but I see it as three levels in that division.

“First, you’ve got domestic guys like Craig Richards, Dan Azeez, Zach Parker and Willy Hutchinson.

“Then second, you’ve got guys like Callum Smith and Anthony Yarde, then top level is Bivol, Beterbiev and Benavidez.

“Right now, we are approaching that bottom tier.”

The opportunity is more likely to be welcomed by Buatsi, who scored a controversial majority decision win over Zach Parker last month.

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Most onlookers felt Parker had done enough to get his hand raised, but two of the judges handed the win to Buatsi via margins of 96-94, while the third scored it a draw.

Buatsi is ranked No.2 by the WBC, with the sole blemish on his 20-1 record coming against Callum Smith in February.

WBC champion Benavidez (31-0) will relish the opportunity to crush another Brit.

‘The Mexican Monster’ dispatched Anthony Yarde in seven rounds last month to defend his green and gold strap in a one-sided affair.

He recently stated his intentions to move up to cruiserweight to challenge WBA and WBO title holder Zurdo Ramirez in a bid to become a three-weight world champion.

However, he assured talkSPORT.com that he would move back down to 175lbs afterwards, with every intention to unify the division.