Ben Whittaker Destroys

Benjamin Gavazi In Matchroom Debut!

By: Ian Webb

Saturday, November 29th, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom: Leading an Eddie Hearn - Matchroom Boxing bill streamed live on DAZN, West Midlands, UK, 2020 Olympic Silver Medalist, Ben “The Surgeon” Whittaker made a stunning promotional debut for Matchroom Boxing claiming the vacant WBC Silver Light Heavyweight title with a first round destruction of Landau, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany’s, Benjamin Gavazi.

Coming off a dominant second-round TKO in April 2025 — and a chance to avenge the controversial October 2024 bout for the vacant WBO Global and IBF International light heavyweight titles that ended in a six-round technical draw after both fighters tumbled from the ring, leaving Whittaker unable to continue due to injury, “The Surgeon” known for his mobile, slick switch hitting style, returned with renewed purpose instantly taking control circling Gavazi with misdirection feints opening the way for blistering volleys of punches flooring the once beaten, German twice in round one forcing referee Mark Bates to immediately wave the contest over at 2:15 of round one. Whitaker moves to 10-0-1, 7Ko’s as the never down Gavazi unbeaten since his failed November 2018 four round pro-debut slips to 19-2, 13Ko’s.

In the highly anticipated vacant WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight co-feature, Blyth, Northumberland, UK, Cameron “The One” Vuong and Treharris, Wales, Gavin Gwynne battled to a crowd pleasing all-action ten round majority draw.

The fight a rematch of Voung’s November 2024 ten round unanimous decision win would rewind the contrasting styles into a battle of endurance seeing the rock steady 35-year-old, veteran Welshman test the speedy 23-year-old, Vuong’s stamina and fortitude tracking down the quicker early leader with a physical pressure attack working the body in the middle rounds only to see the resilient "One” finish well only to settle for a “leave the title vacant 97-93 Vuong, 95-95 times two majority draw. Screaming trilogy Voung moves to 9-0-1, 4Ko’s as Gwynne goes 18-4-2, 5Ko’s.

In a minor upset, Newark, Nottinghamshire’s, Tom Cowling took possession of the vacant BBBofC Midlands Area Middleweight title with a tactical points win over undefeated Coventry, West Midlands, prospect, Aaron Bowen. 

The fight beginning with a familiar feeling out session saw the 5’11” Cowling surprisingly take on the role of aggressor taking the fight to the 6’3” heavy handed former Commonwealth Games bronze medalist. Staying behind an active jab, working quick combinations, the more experienced underdog out boxing Bowen would hit the canvas in round five compliments of a Coventry, West Midland heavy right hand to the head about one minute into round five.

 Cowling showing some grit would rise to finish the round trading rapid combinations and timely grappling for some single heavy shots paving the way for some solid two-way action through the middle rounds. Exhaustion showing its gut checking face in the closing rounds giving those ringside a grin with some entertaining back and forth would see Cowling out working and out landing Bowen in the finishing toe-to toe entertainment would be rewarded for his evenings work for a razor close 96–93 Bowen, 95–94 times two Cowling split decision win. With the performance of his career the new BBBofC Midlands Area Middleweight Champion Cowling moves to 15-1, 4Ko’s, Bowen suffering his first defeat slips to 7-1, 5Ko’s.

In an all Birmingham, West Midlands, match, Ibraheem “Spyder” Sulaimaan in a full act of ring generalship claimed the vacant BBBofC Midlands Area Super Featherweight title with a dominant sixth-round technical knockout of Nico 'The Alchemist’ Ogbeide.

The 24-year-old, switch hitting, southpaw, “Spyder” putting his outstanding amateur pedigree on full display took control of the center of the ring tracking, 'The Alchemist’ Ogbeide with full-on pressure attack landing with rapid combinations to the body and head, meticulously dissecting his hometown foe trapping and bloodying him along the ropes him for a forcing referee Chris Dean to step in and wave it over at 1:52 of round six. With his fourth victory of 2025 Sulaimaan improves to 10-0, 5Ko’s. Ogbeide 2-2 in his last four bouts drops to 6-2-1.

In eight round action, Manchester, more experienced, heavier hitting lightweight, Zelfa “The Brown Flash” Barrett scored a tougher than expected unanimous decision win over Chingford, London’s, Liam Dillon.

Entering off six round points win over Mexico’s Ramiro Garcia Lopez in July, “The Brown Flash” took two rounds to feel out the former BBBofC British Super Featherweight Champion Dillion finding his rhythm in the third taking control of the pace and distance, landing the cleaner, easier scored heavier punches dominated most of the action for a solid, blue collar, referee Ryan Churchill scored 78-74 points win. Barrett with his third victory since his February 2025 ten round unanimous decision points loss to former BBBofC English Super Bantamweight Champion James Dickens improves to 34-3, 18Ko’s. Dillion with his third straight points defeat drops to 15-5-1, 3Ko’s.

In a showcase, featherweight bout, Manchester, 22 year old, technician, Alfie Middlemiss remained unbeaten with a one sided six round decision over Bratislava, Slovakia based rugged Nicaraguan, Engel “El Cohete” Gomez.

From the opening bell Middlemiss controlled the spacing with a sharp jab and accurate follow-up right hands. Keeping the aggressive Nicaraguan on the business end of his punches mixing in drilling body shots boxing his way to a conclusive referee Chris Dean scored 60-54 points win. Middlemiss stays undefeated at 5-0 as his experienced “opponent” Gomez winless in his last nine dives to 9-54-3, 4Ko’s.

In a special female super bantamweight bout, Liverpool, London, former UFC star (14-8) Molly “Meatball” McCann improved to 2-0 as a boxer with a six round points victory over Rowley Regis, West Midlands, Ebonie Cotton.

“Meatball” controlled the action from the opening bell landing precision right hands opening a cut on Cotton’s forehead in the fourth round. McCann with steady pressure maintained her advantage tagging her courageous, durable opponent with clean shots for a clean referee Ryan Churchill scored 58-56 points win. McCann stays unbeaten at 2-0, 1KO. Cotton with her first loss evens up at 1-1.

About DAZN Group

DAZN Group is one of the fastest growing sports media companies in the world. Headquartered in the UK and with employees in over 25 countries, our businesses touch every aspect of the way fans engage with sports; from production, through to content distribution and commercialization. DAZN Group is home to DAZN, the leading global sport destination, as well as the popular sport portal, DAZN News. DAZN is leading the charge to give sports fans around the world access to sport anytime, anywhere. DAZN guarantees affordable access on most connected devices including smart TVs, set-top boxes, streaming sticks, smartphones, tablets, PCs and game consoles. DAZN is now live in more than 200 countries and territories after first launching in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan in 2016.

DAZN is a leading digital sports platform in Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Japan, Canada, US and the UK.  Its wide range of exclusive content includes top-flight football from the world’s most popular competitions – Bundesliga, English Premier League, J.League, LaLiga, Serie A, and the UEFA Champions League, in addition to the biggest sports from around the world - Formula 1, NFL, NBA, MotoGP and the UFC.  

DAZN is the NFL’s global partner and, from the 2023 season, will be the only place for fans around the world to watch every NFL match. DAZN is a global home for boxing and combat sports through its partnerships with Matchroom Boxing the Professional Fighters League. With the most authentic voice in the sport, DAZN is the only brand that can reach across all markets and audiences cohesively in boxing, unlike any other broadcaster. DAZN is also a global home for Women’s Football with UEFA Women’s Champions League and Finetwork Liga F.  DAZN is adding more and more sport to its platform to create a destination for sports fans.  

DAZN is reimagining the way people enjoy sport. With a single, frictionless platform, sports fans can watch, bet, play, share, socialise, and buy tickets, NFTs and merchandise. Live and on-demand sports content, anywhere, in any language, on any device – only on DAZN.  

DAZN is a global, privately-owned company with employees in over 25 countries.

DAZN is available on most connected devices including smart TVs, set-top boxes, streaming sticks, smartphones, tablets, PCs and game consoles, ensuring that fans have access to ground-breaking rights catalogue and slate of incredible content. In the UK and globally, DAZN can be accessed on Samsung, LG, Sony and Panasonic Smart TVs and on Games Consoles including Playstation and Xbox. Subscribers also have access to DAZN on their Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Google Chromecast and Apple TV and find the app on their iPhone, iPad, android and mobile.  

About Matchroom Boxing

After the success of snooker in the 1980s, Matchroom Sport moved into boxing with two small hall shows followed by Frank Bruno v Joe Bugner at Tottenham Hotspur’s ground – the biggest boxing event of 1987. That launched the company into the boxing big-time, a position it has maintained ever since.

Through the 1990s Matchroom Sport’s boxing roster featured many of the biggest names in the sport including Lennox Lewis, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Steve Collins and Naseem Hamed, all in world title fights and it continues to work with some of the biggest names in UK boxing including Audley Harrison, the 2000 Olympic Super-Heavyweight gold medalist.

Over the years, Matchroom Sport has built up long-standing relationships with broadcasters around the world and with the advent of the Prizefighter phenomenon, the company’s boxing division has never been in a stronger position.

From fantastic six round scraps between the sport’s journeymen, up to multi-million-dollar World Championship contests featuring the above fighters, the Pro Box series has it all. Each show is packed with the very best in boxing action in a series that encompasses almost 25 years of Matchroom Sport’s commitment to bringing the highest quality to the global television market.