Ben Whittaker vs Khalid Graidia (03-02-2024) Full Fight
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Transcript
00:00 Okay, last eight-lap contest. Keep it clean at all times, give yourself protection at all times, and keep it spangling at all times. Touch gloves, here we go.
00:08 Kali Gradier there, with the look of a man who's seen it all before.
00:27 Tick-tocks, round one.
00:31 But can he cope with the skill set of Ben Whittaker? Whittaker in the black, Gradier in the white.
00:38 Gradier went eight rounds with Dan Aziz last year, he's been able to parallel Talma, Ezra Taylor, two other good fighters as well, stopped by Zack Parker in seven, so that's the caliber that he has, the toughness that he has. Whittaker has started with some intent here though.
00:56 Yeah, yeah, yeah, come take it from there.
00:58 Whittaker's went from well behind his jab, using his feet, trying to draw Sotonov.
01:14 Back to business.
01:18 Good lad.
01:21 Good lad.
01:22 Gradier gets onto the inside and winds up with the right hand there. That was good work from him, he stole that space, and then looked to get the punch away.
01:34 Come on, let me know, let me know.
01:40 See Whittaker here just trying to open him up, work him out, using the feints, seeing where he's vulnerable.
01:47 Good lad.
01:50 Gradier not really opening up just yet, still very defensive minded.
01:55 Whittaker doubling up on the jab.
02:00 He's going up and down with the jab.
02:15 And trying to sink the right hand into the body, followed it with a left uppercut, Gradier trying to find room for that right hand round the back of the guard whenever possible.
02:24 That's a nice right hook, really got round the back of the glove there with that shot.
02:35 He's got to have some order, sitting to do three uppercuts on the spin.
02:43 It's a high risk shot, the lead left uppercut, but he's not afraid to throw it.
02:48 Trying to chop down with the right hand, Gradier looking to try and close the distance, closer is safer for him.
03:09 He is trying to reply, Gradier, it's just, Ben's head movement and getting out of the way, he's doing really well.
03:16 Good defensive skills there from Whittaker, he plays for the crowd at the end of the round.
03:31 He almost got through a whole round without him, that's how I was waiting for this to come.
03:36 I'm ready for this to come.
03:37 I love your breath.
03:41 Ready?
03:44 Adam Azim is next up, he makes the first defensive European title that he won in Wolverhampton.
03:50 Against a man who was in the crowd that night, Enoch Paulson, a former champion himself, he never lost that title in the ring.
03:56 He is also undefeated.
03:58 It was a good year last year for Azim, built very, very nicely.
04:05 Lead hand control.
04:07 Love your breath.
04:09 And again.
04:12 Well this is what we always get from Whittaker, and at this point I should pay tribute to the original Dancing Destroyer.
04:19 It was with sadness last night that we all learn of the passing of the legendary Carl Webbers, who of course played Apollo Creed in the Rocky films.
04:28 And did such an amazing job with that character, the master of disaster, the king of sting, the Count of Monte Fisto.
04:35 I get misty eyed, Macklin, when I think about it.
04:39 Yeah, he was, what a character.
04:42 What a set of films.
04:45 I think you say Rocky 3 was your favourite, Andy, wasn't it?
04:49 There is no tomorrow!
04:52 Tremendous stuff.
04:54 Sympathies from the whole of the UK boxing family to the Weathers family and friends.
05:00 Whittaker just going about his business here.
05:05 Nice left hand into the body and again an extravagant bit of evasion from the surgeon.
05:12 I actually enjoyed the first round, the way he didn't do it.
05:21 But it is just a part of who he is and that's how he expresses himself.
05:26 He is a lot more comfortable being like that.
05:31 I think as much of it is part of the show business and the swagger and the brand and all that type of thing.
05:37 Beautiful body shot there from Whittaker.
05:40 And you can see the grimace on the face of Gradier as he took it and backed up.
05:45 He got great purchase on that.
05:48 Sunk it in like a red hot poker into that rib cage midway through the round.
05:54 Can he follow it up? He looked for it again there.
05:58 But he managed to drop the elbow on it. And here he goes Whittaker.
06:02 Sure McAvoy not happy with that. The referee telling him off.
06:06 I was going to say as much of it is part of the whole showmanship.
06:12 I think a part of it is also to antagonise his opponents.
06:16 Try and vex them, lure them into lunging or making a mistake.
06:27 And he has been setting that shot up.
06:29 Just tapping with the jab, bearing up the weight of punches he did there.
06:33 Double tap up to the head with that lead left hand and then much more weight on the right hand.
06:38 That's something you were talking about in our previous fight Tasha.
06:41 That variety, you get hit with something you are not really braced for and that's when it makes the impact.
06:47 100% he is varying that backhand off lovely.
06:50 He is bringing it up, he is bringing it over.
06:52 But that shot that he caught him with the headshot, he just gets caught there.
06:56 He just missed his ribs by inches and just came up and at the side.
07:02 You just can't defend them, it's virtually impossible to defend them.
07:05 It was great placement of the shot.
07:07 When you miss somebody, when your opponent in front of you, you can't hit them and you miss Wilder,
07:12 the crowd cheer, it embarrasses you, it demoralises you.
07:15 Then you get hit with a stiff jab on the nose and a body shot and it's slowly breaking your will.
07:23 He did get clipped there with a shot in that little exchange.
07:26 Looks to finish on the left hand, the one-two at the conclusion of the round there.
07:32 Two rounds in here Gradier, this is a tough night for him already.
07:36 The Gradier corner just trying to attract the attention of the referee there.
07:45 They feel he's been hit around the back of the head here at times.
07:48 There's that left of the body.
07:50 Yeah, just lifted him up with the right uppercut and then bent down.
07:54 And got that left hook right round the back of the elbow into the floating rib area.
07:57 Horrible place, completely took his wind away.
08:01 You see the reaction with body shots straight away.
08:08 He got it, he took a little step back.
08:11 There's where he gets sold off.
08:17 Well some referees will pick you up for that, some won't.
08:28 He absolutely wouldn't have got away with that than the amateurs, I'll tell you that for nothing.
08:34 But as a pro, it is all about making people want to watch, making people want to tune in.
08:39 Show business with blood as Jimmy Cannon described it decades ago.
08:46 Just bearing up the weight of that left hand there, Whitaker.
08:48 Gradier's going to need all this experience here.
08:51 Yeah, he's got to try and tuck up tight, fire back when he can.
08:55 You know, try not to get too disheartened when he's struggling to land because Whitaker is very evasive.
09:03 He's got great upper body movement, great lateral movement.
09:06 He's got very peripheral vision, he's very good reflexes.
09:10 He's not easy to catch clean.
09:13 Both hands.
09:14 Good lad. Keep applying that pressure.
09:24 Blocked that, Gradier.
09:26 And he'll need that guard.
09:29 Uppercut there from Whitaker.
09:31 But he still came forward there, the Frenchman.
09:33 He countered them as well with a hook and he flipped them.
09:37 So he has got to be careful.
09:40 Yeah, he's got to start trying to come forward now against Whitaker.
09:44 He's got to try and push Whitaker back.
09:46 Just trying to punch off the head movement there, Gradier.
09:57 That fly with the left hook.
09:59 Yeah, he fell short but it was a better effort.
10:02 Good lad.
10:03 Your distance.
10:05 Nice.
10:08 He's jabbed there from Gradier.
10:10 Shaping flat left to the body again there, Whitaker, but switched up to the head.
10:15 Coming over the top of the jab there, Whitaker, with the right hand. He wasn't far away.
10:27 He's actually showing his boxing IQ there.
10:32 Ben, when he dipped, obviously you caught him with the body shot earlier and he knew he was going to dip.
10:36 And he brings it up the middle.
10:38 Great shot.
10:40 Another uppercut there from Whitaker, but Gradier soaked it up and then came back with the right hand.
10:45 But he's just been backed up to the ropes a touch there.
10:48 Caught with the combination, Gradier and Whitaker again.
10:51 Just looking outside of the ring.
10:53 Just over 30 seconds remaining in round three.
10:56 Come on, Brad!
10:57 One second!
10:59 Back to business!
11:01 Back to business!
11:07 Again, you see Gradier missing wildly there. It's almost as if this heart is getting hit with a stiff jab.
11:17 Nice.
11:22 Come on! Come here!
11:23 Turn around!
11:26 Get closer!
11:28 Oh!
11:29 Oh!
11:30 Oh!
11:31 Oh!
11:33 Boxing on Sky Sports. Brought to you by Voltirol.
11:37 Come on, we got a bet going.
11:38 What's the bet?
11:39 That Ted can get Mom to swear.
11:40 Just eat your supper.
11:41 Wait, you're not wearing pants. Where'd you get this?
11:43 Don't you worry about where I'm keeping stuff.
11:45 I'm going to get expelled.
11:48 For what?
11:49 I'll come up with something.
11:50 I'm the king of the wieners!
11:51 Oh!
11:52 Oh!
11:53 The two of you might not be total screw-ups.
11:58 I'm going to need your parents' phone numbers.
12:00 My parents are out of town.
12:01 I don't have parents on account of I'm a teddy bear that came alive.
12:04 I'm going to need your parents' phone numbers.
12:06 My parents are out of town.
12:07 I don't have parents on account of I'm a teddy bear that came alive.
12:10 [Whoosh]
12:11 So Richard reacts for that.
12:17 And Fraser Clark on the right-hand side.
12:20 Could be some news coming for both of those two before too long.
12:28 [Bell rings]
12:29 So into the fourth, Whittaker with the right-hand counter at the start of the round.
12:37 [Whoosh]
12:38 A little bit of swelling around the left side.
12:42 Just under the left side there of Grader.
12:44 I think it's come up from that right-hand.
12:46 [Whoosh]
12:48 I think he just caught him cold with the first shot.
12:50 He came out with a bit of a lazy jab.
12:51 Ben just slipped and countered it.
12:53 Grader caught him on the back of the head there.
13:02 But there was nothing the Frenchman could do about that because Whittaker returned his back.
13:05 The referee just warning him about that.
13:07 And then you can see that bit of damage around the left eye there of Grader.
13:11 Yeah, the right hooks are really working well for Whittaker.
13:15 He's really digging the shot in, getting behind the glove.
13:19 And again a solid right-hand.
13:32 Even if you're catching these, parrying them, half-blocking them with the glove,
13:35 you still feel them.
13:36 The glove cannons into the face.
13:38 It has an impact.
13:42 Again there, Grader trying to fight back and just missing.
13:45 Again, it's disheartening.
13:47 He's protected himself well from that left-hand to the body, Grader, since he got put down by it.
13:59 No matter how brutal a fight is, if you feel like you're in the fight, you can keep gripping through.
14:04 But when you just feel like you're beaten by someone who's far too good,
14:08 and you can't even land, you can't catch them, it's very demoralising.
14:11 Well, Whittaker is going to get told off for that.
14:15 He stood up tall and he just slapped him on the top of the head, really, with the palm.
14:20 And the trainer there is pretty furious about that.
14:23 He's been complaining to Shulmakov, the referee, in between rounds.
14:26 He feels that Whittaker has been hitting his man around the back of the head at times.
14:30 And the pair of them just being called to the centre.
14:33 Whittaker's antics are maybe just riling Grader up a little bit here.
14:50 He's setting his feet and looking to let the sounds go.
14:53 But could Steve Van Whittaker possibly...
14:56 Danny just kind of coaguling him here, embarrassing him.
15:05 Well, the referee again is saying that he's backhanded in the corner for Grader.
15:12 And the looking right, hitting with the back of the left glove.
15:18 Any more of that is going to take the point.
15:21 He's telling him, "You need to make contact with the knuckle part of the glove."
15:26 You know, this kind of show, boys, some people can't stand it, other people love it.
15:30 It's literally what you like.
15:33 Grader's corner man is still absolutely raging.
15:39 He's halfway up the stairs and I think he's being approached by someone from the board to tell him to sit down.
15:43 He is not happy at all.
15:46 You can see the steam rising off him, away to the right-hand side.
15:50 Grader's keeping his composure, though.
15:52 He's a very experienced fighter.
15:54 Right hand, left hand, left hand.
15:57 And puts a right on the end of it. Whittaker just leaning back, avoiding that right hand.
16:02 It's nothing. It's gone.
16:13 Calm your breath. This is the round we take him out in.
16:17 Okay? In your rhythm, set it off to take him out this round.
16:42 You either love it or you hate it, but most people inside Wembley Arena, I'd say, are loving it.
16:48 I think your ringside, they're loving it too.
16:53 Joby Clayton in the corner, telling Whittaker that this is the round that he takes him out.
16:59 Clayton is with him all through camp. They've been together forever, those two, on Whittaker's boxing journey.
17:09 To have the confidence, the timing, and the ability to do it is impressive.
17:16 But I think people just find it disrespectful to the opponent.
17:20 Left into the body again there. It is disrespectful to the opponent. There's no getting away from that.
17:33 If you do this, you have to be able to back it up. Right hand into the body there from Whittaker.
17:40 So he needs to be able to close the show here. That's the kind of pressure you put on yourself.
17:47 But again, he's got such good reflexes, a good counter puncher, and that kind of really doding your opponent.
17:55 It's part of his tactics, it's part of his game plan, trying to lure him into making a mistake that he can then make him pay for.
18:01 I do think you're right, it'd be hard not to react emotionally to someone doing that in front of you.
18:17 Once you get annoyed and angry and you load up, your own game plan has gone out the window there.
18:27 I think Grady's done a good job of not going down that road though.
18:31 He's an experienced guy, he did set his feet and start to swing towards the end of that third round.
18:37 But other than that, he's kept his cool admirably at times.
18:43 Right hand there from Whittaker to the head, then down to the body.
18:46 He has had his own successes, just obviously not enough. That was a great body shot from Wolf again.
18:51 And in fact, that is how he's struck immediately.
18:53 (audience laughing)