United Kingdom’s Ben Whittaker seems to be heading into a downward spiral, and his last opponent, 33-year-old Liam Cameron, is using it to squeeze out a potential rematch. The two clashed last Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in a bout that ended dramatically and unexpectedly.

At the end of the 5th round of their fight on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol, Whittaker and Cameron took a tumble over the ropes and fell outside the ring. It resulted in the 27-year-old suffering an injured ankle, and he was taken out of the ring in a wheelchair. The fight itself was declared a technical split draw, with many claiming Whittaker quit the bout to save a loss. 

Hours after this incident in the ring, the 27-year-old was spotted walking through security at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with his ankle bandaged. This is when all hell broke loose for the Brit. A witness who had booked the same Saudi Airlines flight to Heathrow claimed he saw Whittaker’s confrontation with another individual. 

In a conversation with The Sun, who have the video of the ordeal, the witness said, “I spotted Ben Whittaker coming through security and then a fan who had a boxing T-shirt on went up with his phone and went to take a photo.” He also revealed that Ben told the fan not to take his picture, snatched the camera from his hands, and smashed it to the ground.

The witness claimed that the boxer looked like he was about to punch the fan, but Whittaker’s team jumped in to stop them. Regardless, the exchange had gotten heated between them. He added, “They were shouting at each other.” This seems to have prompted the security personnel to intervene and detain the pair while their passports were taken.

“Ben said he would pay for the phone and they both were made to write down their details… and they were allowed to go on the flight,” the unnamed witness said. The duo exchanged contact details in a nearby coffee shop, with Whittaker offering to cover the cost of the phone. Liam Cameron seems to have discovered this incident, as he took a jab at Whittaker on social media. 

Sharing a screenshot of the article’s headline from The Sun, Cameron wrote, “#Quittaker” to suggest the 27-year-old intentionally quit during their fight last Saturday night. Meanwhile, Whittaker has shared his perspective on what transpired at the airport.

Ben Whittaker invited the fan to his next fight

Reacting to the incident with the fan in the Riyadh Airport, Whittaker told The Sun, “This was a really unfortunate event and I’m grateful to the gentleman that he sat down to talk about it straight afterward and accepted my apology.” Whittaker’s outburst could have been the result of his disappointing performance during the fight.

One judge scored his bout 58-57 in Whittaker’s favor while the other gave the same score in Cameron’s favor. Meanwhile, the third judge saw the fight 58-58 draw, leading to the technical decision draw. Regardless, Whittaker refused to comment on the video of his confrontation, adding, “In any case, we are in touch about replacing his phone and coming along to a future event as our guest.”

Ben Whittaker seems to be taking the incident at the Riyadh Airport very seriously, as he should. In the meantime, Liam Cameron has decided to use the situation to his advantage by antagonizing Whittaker in a bid to lure him back to the ring. What did you think about Whittaker’s confrontation?