Ben Whittaker has joined forces with Tyson Fury’s assistant coach Andy Lee ahead of his rematch with Liam Cameron.
The pair will meet again on April 20 at the BP Pulse LIVE Arena in Birmingham following their contentious inaugural encounter last October.
Whittaker and Cameron both flipped over the top rope in the dying embers of the fifth round, resulting in Whittaker sustaining injuries that left him unable to continue.
As more than four rounds had been completed, the fight went to a technical decision with the judges unable to split the fierce rivals.
One judge favoured Whittaker at 58-57, a second scored the bout 58-57 for Cameron, while a third had it 58-58 even, meaning the contest was declared a split draw.
Cameron claims Whittaker was exhausted by the fifth round and was merely ‘looking for a way out of the fight’ while the Olympic silver medallist has never shared any medical proof of his injuries.
His promoter Ben Shalom claims Whittaker suffered a sprained ankle and aggravated a neck injury on the way down.
Shalom went on to admit that Whittaker was in ‘a bad way’ after the draw and would be making ‘huge changes’ to his camp.
According to Ring Magazine, the first of those big changes is his trainer.
Whittaker turned over as a professional under the watchful eye of SugarHill Steward, before switching back to his former amateur coach and godfather Joby Clayton last year.
However, he has since packed his bags and travelled to Dublin to start his camp with new trainer Lee at the Ballybrack Boxing Club.
Lee became the first member of the travelling community to win a major world title when he stopped Matt Korobov for the WBO middleweight belt in 2014.
He has since gone on to become a well-respected trainer whose gym is home to former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker and fast-rising Irish welterweight Paddy Donovan as well as Fury from time to time.
His revival of Parker’s career has received particular acclaim from the boxing fraternity.
And while Whittaker is by no means down and out, Lee’s experience in helping fighters rebuild after significant setbacks will be invaluable.
The Irishman’s style will also be familiar to Whittaker, as like his first trainer SugarHill, Lee is a pupil of the Kronk Gym.
Lee turned pro with the SugarHill’s mentor Emanuel Steward in 2005 and worked with him up until his passing in 2012.
Explaining his decision to overhaul his camp and work with Lee, Whittaker said: “Before, I was nice and cosy, I was at home with my amateur coach [Clayton].
YouTube – Boxing SocialWhittaker was working with his godfather Clayton[/caption]
“But now I need to do something to be outside my comfort zone and that’s the position I’m in now.
“A new voice, new ears, new eyes, all of that stuff really, just someone who can critique you differently and see things that other people haven’t seen before.
“I want to get better if I can, I want to improve and these are things I need to do.”
