‘They took my belt’ – Ben Whittaker finds house burgled hours after brutal KO win

Ben Whittaker quickly experienced the highs and lows of being a boxing superstar this weekend.

Just hours after the Briton viciously disposed of Benjamin Gavazi on Saturday night to win the WBC silver light heavyweight title, Whittaker returned home and found out he’d been burgled.

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The 28-year-old had just made a statement in his first fight under the guidance of Eddie Hearn‘s Matchroom Boxing, which is probably why he didn’t seem too annoyed when revealing the incident online.

Ben Whittaker: Big reward for burglars

“Highs and lows of the sport,” Whittaker said on social media upon returning home after his triumph.

“[I] come back [from my fight] [and my] house has been burgled, but Wednesbury, I got a big, big reward.

“Find these people — let me know. They’ve even taken my IBF [International] belt.

“What are they going to do with that? Let me know, hit me up in the DMs. [There’s] a big reward — love.”

‘The Surgeon’ had won the IBF international light heavyweight strap by outpointing Ezra Arenteka at Selhurst Park last June.

He then contested back-to-back bouts with bitter rival Liam Cameron, with the first in October 2024 ending in a draw after the pair stumbled out of the ring.

Whittaker came back and claimed a remarkable second-round KO in the rematch six months later to go 9-0-1 in the sport, before flattening Gavazi in Birmingham on Saturday night.

The burglary may overshadow Whittaker’s special night personally, but it’s clear the Olympic silver medallist has big things to come.

“When you walk out pretty like that, you have to back up, and that is what I did,” Whittaker, who walked out with British rapper Dizzee Rascal, said in his post-fight interview.

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“Andy [Lee] said in the locker room, ‘What you do in sparring is enough, just go out there and do that. Work behind your things, and it will all come together.’

“And damn, I looked good. At the end of the day, I could see he was a game kid — I could see it in his eyes… this was an opportunity to change his life.

“But at the press conference, he let something slip. He said, ‘I have got nothing to lose’. Well, I am a person who has everything to lose.”

Hearn, Whittaker’s new promoter, had been full of praise for his new fighter in the buildup to the Birmingham show, and didn’t stop after the bout.

“Listen, all I can say is wow,” Hearn said.

“Sometimes people come into an arena, and they light up the place, but what matters is what happens in here [the ring].

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“We know there are many levels above Gavazi to where we have to get to.

“But what you do with that level is you go in there, and you destroy them clinically, and you produce a showreel knockout that the whole world watches for the next week.

“Millions and millions of views watching this young man, who is so special.

“And when you talk about the greats of British boxing in the past, Naseem Hamed, Chris Eubank Sr, all of those eccentric characters with plenty of ability.

“This guy has it all. He can light up British boxing and light up world boxing.”

Whittaker may now be set up for a huge ranked fight in the light heavyweight division next.