Paulie Malignaggi sees Roy Jones Jr.-level talent in Ben Whittaker. He isn’t sold on the mindset.
The former two-division champion weighed in on ProBox TV after Whittaker’s close call against Conor Wallace. Whittaker won a unanimous decision on Oct. 3 in Birmingham, England, but went to the canvas three times in the final round. None was ruled a knockdown.
[Ben Whittaker] has an amazing amount of talent. If he has any balls, this kid can go really far. [Sometimes he looks] almost like he wants a way out. It’s like he doesn’t mind if you give him a way out that’s the worst way out.
He looks like the best thing since sliced bread to [then] all of a sudden he just doesn’t care how bad he looks anymore. You see generational talent level within his boxing ability, but does he have the mindset? Boxing at a high level is [about] becoming comfortable being uncomfortable.
Malignaggi explained why he brought up Jones, the dominant pound-for-pound star of the 1990s.
If he’s showing these deficiencies at this level, dude, that’s a hard climb. I think of the guys that Roy Jones had to face that he made look easy, they were rugged dudes.
I mention Roy, why? Because I think Whittaker has that kind of talent. His physical gifts, you don’t see that. It’s out of this world. It’s Roy Jones-esque in a lot of ways. But I still question whether he’s got the mentality.
Whittaker, an Olympic silver medalist, improved to 13-0-1. The Wallace fight was an IBF light heavyweight final eliminator, and both camps have shown interest in a rematch. His first fight with Liam Cameron also raised questions before he stopped Cameron in a rematch.
