Eddie Hearn Concedes Possible Ben Whittaker Knockdown

Promoter Eddie Hearn acknowledged that one of Ben Whittaker's three final-round falls against Conor Wallace could have been scored as a knockdown. Whittaker won the IBF light heavyweight eliminator in Birmingham by unanimous decision with scores of 117–111, 116–112, and 115–113. Hearn attributed Whittaker's struggles primarily to fatigue alongside pushes and punches behind the head, while none of the falls were ruled knockdowns by the referee.

Boxing 24/7 Wire argues that the officiating significantly altered the bout's outcome, contending that properly scoring the falls and penalizing Whittaker's excessive holding could have handed Wallace a majority decision win. The outlet emphasizes that exhaustion does not negate a legal knockdown and questions whether unpunished fouls protected Whittaker's new status as an IBF mandatory challenger.