Ben Whittaker entered his October fight with Liam Cameron far too high on his own talent and would end it with his opponent on top of him, literally and figuratively. The revered prospect opted not to fight anymore, at least not on that night, and so began a public crusade against him.

The 2020 Olympic silver medallist’s crime was not only withdrawing from a difficult fight, it was also his behavior during each of the straightforward outings that had come before. Whittaker won all eight of those contests, finding time in each of them to dance and clown with youthful awareness that the cameras were there only for him. Though it all came naturally, and was never designed to offend, the superciliousness on display offended as many as it impressed. As such, a target of his own making was placed on his own forehead with his own hands. He wore it with both naivety and pride.

Cameron too would be easy work, Whittaker had insisted, while poking fun at his opponent for his style and the way he spoke. And Cameron couldn’t match Whittaker for one-liners, it’s true, but inside the Saudi Arabia ring the 34-year-old soon showcased his preferred method of expression. Seasoned at professional level and armed with lessons aplenty from mistakes made in the past, the veteran started to make Whittaker look like the silly one. Silly for taking this fight too soon and silly for believing he could knock Cameron out. And sillier still at the fight’s conclusion when, increasingly tired and out of ideas, Whittaker wrestled Cameron over the ropes and left himself in no state to continue.

The technical six-round draw that followed was initially deemed unjust to Cameron, though, on reflection, it had been a close and messy contest and the scores – 58-58, 57-58, 58-57 – wholly justifiable. Whether Whittaker was looking for a way out, as was largely claimed, or the injuries to his back and ankle left him unable to walk, as he insisted, can only ever be a matter of conjecture.

Whatever occurred, he enters Sunday’s rematch, set for the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England, with more to prove than at any other point in his entire career. If the first fight, which took place on the undercard of the opening battle between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, was a test for Whitaker, the kind he needed to pass to reach the next stage, then the rematch is a full-blown exam upon which his entire education hinges. To get through it successfully he must have prepared diligently and know his subject inside out.

Whittaker appeared to just turn up last time, content that his ability would win the day. There was, however, no evidence of any thorough planning as he struggled to change an approach that was quickly rendered ineffective by the brutish play of Cameron. To suggest the former Commonwealth middleweight champion, 23-6-1 (10 KOs), merely walks forward and throws punches would be doing him a disservice, however. There’s an art to his crude marches; he knows when to throw, he’s adept at closing the gap and is aware that a weighty blast to the arms, though not necessarily a scoring blow, is effective when it comes to sapping the strength of his opponent.

Whittaker, by now, should be aware of Cameron’s assets and humble enough to accept that he cannot match them in a brawl. The 27-year-old, with supreme coach Andy Lee now calling the shots, will likely approach this 10-rounder (presuming that increasingly nauseating row over the scheduled distance has been sorted out) with the care and precision that was absent last year. He will surely be fitter, too. 

The expectation, then, is for Whittaker to counter effectively, jab with authority while using those feet to move with grace, and only seldomly stopping to admire his own work, en route to winning what might appear another scrappy affair on points. Yet there remains the possibility that Cameron, who will also be healthier and more determined after a long camp, was always wrong for Whittaker at this stage of his career.