Ben Whittaker plots redemption in Easter Sunday re-match with Liam Cameron

The pair will meet for the second time on Sunday, April 20 at Birmingham’s BP Pulse Live, six months on from their controversial draw in Saudi Arabia, which ended when both fighters toppled over the ropes.

Whittaker sustained ankle and back injuries which left him unable to continue but the manner of the ending, together with the 27-year-old’s sluggish performance, damaged his reputation with some even accusing him of quitting on the bout.

The Tokyo 2020 silver medallist laughed off those claims during Thursday’s launch press conference for the re-match, though he did acknowledge the first blemish of his professional career had brought his “feet back to earth”.

And he vowed to put things right when the pair meet again. Whittaker said: “Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The main man. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here.

“I believe that day is written for a reason. That is the day I can come back. That is the day I look good, the day I win and that is the day I move forward.”

An honest Whittaker branded his performance in the first meeting as “terrible” and compared the fight to “two kids fighting outside Wetherspoons”.

He then used sarcasm when addressing claims he had quit, pointing out he fought his way to Olympic silver despite nursing a shoulder injury.

Whittaker continued: “I went to the Olympics with one arm. I fought the first part of my pro career with one arm. 

“I have been through worse, I have been through bigger things than that. 

“At the end of the day that little block of what happened there, has made me a very good person. It has made me more focused and made me a more dangerous fighter.”

Whittaker, whose showboating style has earned him both fans and critics in equal measure, conceded he may have been caught up in the glitz and glamour of fighting in Saudi Arabia ahead of the first fight.

And far from being upset with the flak which came his way in the aftermath, he replied: “Actually, I kind of liked it. Obviously as a pro, you want your career pristine, no errors. But I kind of liked it. 

“I wouldn’t say it humbled me. But it brought my feet back to earth in a sense of what got me to where I am now is being Ben Whittaker, training, there are no cameras around. 

“Of course I am flashy, I am a flashy, flamboyant person. But maybe I did it too much fight week and things like that. Now, I am being me. I have liked this quiet stage. I have been able to be in the gym, being myself. 

“It has taught me to treat every fight like it could be your last. Going in there with that mindset, I will be fine.

“It’s the little grounding I needed to say: ‘Look Ben, you are in the pros now’. Take each fight as it comes.”

The Easter Sunday show also features two former European champions on the bill in the shape of Rowley Regis middleweight Tyler Denny and Stourbridge’s Sam Eggington.

Denny, fighting for the first time since his title in two rounds to Hamzah Sheeraz at Wembley, takes on Elvia Ahorgah, while Eggington faces Lee Cutler in what will be the 44th fight of his pro career.