Ben Whittaker is the latest fighter to return from a fight to find out his home has been robbed.
Whittaker is a 2022 Olympic silver medalist in boxing and current IBF International light heavyweight champion. On Saturday, he won the WBC Silver light heavyweight title by knocking out Benjamin Gavazi in the first round.
That was a quick win, but not quick enough to get him home in time to stop his house from being burgled. In a new video released on social media, Whittaker revealed that robbers had used the fight as an opportunity to come and clean him out.
“Highs and lows of the sport,” Whittaker said in the clip. “I come back and my house has been burgled. Wednesbury, I’ve got a big, big reward. Find these people, let me know. They’ve even taken my IBF belt. What are they going to do with that?”
“Let me know, hit me up in the DMs for a big reward, love.”
While the WBC Silver title is barely a title and more of a signifier of star status, the IBF belt was legit … so it’s extra insult that Whittaker would have it stolen.
This isn’t an uncommon occurrence — Manny Pacquiao and Naoya Inoue have also had their homes robbed while they were at a fight. Ryan Garcia’s house was robbed when he was on a trip to announce a fight. And this extends to MMA as well: Marlon Vera and Ciryl Gane have both been targeted while out of town fighting.
It has everyone on edge.
“When my family is at my house, it’s not a game,” Sean O’Malley said shortly after Vera’s house was robbed. “I’m ready to kill. I’m walking around with my AR, I’m walking around with my pistol.”
