Whittaker Stops Rivera In Two

Ben Whittaker announced himself to an American audience on the biggest undercard of the year — and the performance was hard to ignore.

The heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light heavyweight contender stopped Jonathan Rivera in the second round, dropping him twice across the fight before the referee waved it off 27 seconds into the second. Rivera had never been stopped before. Whittaker made it look relatively straightforward.

The first knockdown arrived late in the opening round, though the right hand that produced it appeared to land on the back of Rivera's head. The second came early in the second, a left hook landing flush as Rivera charged forward. Rivera rose, but Griffin had seen enough.

Whittaker has now knocked out four consecutive opponents since the bizarre ending to his first fight with Liam Cameron in 2024, when both men became entangled and went over the top rope together. Whittaker suffered ankle and neck injuries in the fall and could not continue, resulting in a six-round split technical draw that satisfied nobody.

Ben responded by knocking Cameron out in the second round of their immediate rematch and has not left a fight in the hands of the judges since — stopping Benjamin Gavazi and Braian Suarez each in the first round before Rivera on Saturday night.

Rivera had built a career without ever being stopped, which made Whittaker's finish a statement rather than a routine result on a routine card. Performing on the Ennis-Zayas undercard in front of a Brooklyn crowd placed the 29-year-old from West Bromwich in front of an audience that was paying attention.