Ben Whittaker's warning to fan before smashing phone as security step in | Boxing | SportBritish boxer Ben Whittaker was reportedly dragged away by airport security in Saudi Arabia after smashing a fan's phone. His fight with Liam Cameron ended in an unusual draw after both boxers crashed out of the ring, with Whittaker leaving the venue in a wheelchair after injuring his ankle when sparring and then falling over the ropes. The bout was abandoned due to accidental injury and declared a technical split draw, with Whittaker leading 58-57 on one scorecard, Cameron ahead by the same score on another and the third tied at 58-58. The fight was on the undercard for the undisputed light-heavyweight world title clash between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev. And hours after bizarrely drawing against Cameron, The Sun claim that Whittaker fumed at a supporter saying "don't take no photos of me" while going through security at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, before destroying their device. A source for the report further elaborated: "I spotted Ben Whittaker coming through security and then a fan who had a boxing T-shirt on went up with his phone and went to take a photo. "Ben said 'don’t take no photos of me' and snatched the phone out of his hand and smashed it straight on the floor. "Ben stepped towards him, looked like he was gonna punch him and some of Ben’s team jumped in between them and it got really heated - they were shouting at each other." Both men allegedly had their passports taken off of them initially as a result of the altercation, before having another conversation at a nearby coffee shop and settling their differences. They sat at the same table and Whittaker apologised, offering to pay for the damages, as the affair was swiftly described as 'chilled' after the fan was offered to be a guest at one of the 27-year-old's next fights. The Olympian was spotted with strapping on his ankle and hobbling through the airport, having been taken to hospital following his fight to treat an injury. Whittaker has already broken his silence on the incident and said: “This was a really unfortunate event and I’m grateful to the gentleman that he sat down to talk about it straight afterwards and accepted my apology. "Unfortunately I can’t comment further on the alleged video recording as I have not seen it. In any case, we are in touch about replacing his phone and coming along to a future event as our guest.” Source link Posted: 2024-10-15 19:13:53 |
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