Reactions to Ben Whittaker vs Conor Wallace

What is everyone saying about Whittaker's win over Wallace?

Ben Whittaker (13-0-1, 9 KOs) won his IBF light-heavyweight title eliminator over Irishman Conor Wallace (17-2, 12 KOs) on Saturday night, October 3 in Birmingham, live on DAZN.

The 29-year-old stylist from West Brom was his typical self during the first nine rounds, then began to unravel during the championship segments.

"The Surgeon" tumbled to the canvas almost half a dozen times, as he held on for dear life against the Australian-based southpaw, who took the Briton into deep waters, but did he sink or swim? GBN collated the most popular comments on the fight below:

Michael Conlan: "I do question this, you have won a world title eliminator and call for a rematch instead of wanting the biggest fight next? As a fighter you don’t do that but as a manager it’s probably the safe bet. I do think Bens unbelievably talented but doesn’t seem to have that dog in him."

Frank Warren: "Anyone who makes [Dmitry Bivol vs. Whittaker] should be reported to the NSPCC. He's a nice guy, good luck to him and Matchroom done a good job in promoting him — they got everybody talking about him — but you've got to have some substance and the substance, at the end of the day, just isn't there."

Zak Chelli: "He started off well, typical behaviour, jumping around, trying to dance in the ring. But then, after that, his fitness didn't help him and Conor Wallace took advantage of that in those last rounds. You know what they say, 'it's not about how you start, it's about how you finish.' And he finished terribly. If he was against me that night, I would have knocked him out. You see how I finish, I'm always stronger at the end of the rounds. I would have stopped him in rounds nine or 10. So if that was Whittaker with me that night, ~I would have stopped him."

Mark Butcher: "Whittaker has high-end amateur credentials so the pedigree is there, but circumventing the grounding and steady-build of the traditional British title, European title route is doing him no favours. International/silver/global titles are just ratings greasers."

Craig Scott: "Having to take rematches with Liam Cameron and Conor Wallace to silence critics this early, while dancing and shimmying your way around the ring to the sound of your promoters/fans claiming you’re the future of British boxing is… a tough sell."

Chris Mannix: "Conor Wallace was the first live body Ben Whittaker has faced since signing with Matchroom. And he was in straight survival mode for the last three rounds."

Brit Boxing Blog: "This is exactly why people look to hate on Ben Whittaker. A lot of traditionalists hate anyone trying to stand out or express themselves. It's what gets eyes on him and help creates hype. It also increases scrutiny on him immensely. Boxing like this and going the distance isn't a good look though - if it is "too easy" like he says, then he needs to prove it. Get the supposed lesser fighters out of there sharpish and move onto the next level!"

Joe Denham: "Whitaker is a joke, he's nothing but a clown - he needed help from his despicable home referee to survive the late rounds today - but even his hometown crowd booed him."