Ben Whittaker vs Conor Wallace preview: IBF title eliminator headlines Birmingham card

Matchroom's Ben Whittaker heads to familiar territory in Birmingham on October 3 as he looks to take another step towards becoming a world champion.

The ultra-charismatic 29-year-old will face Australia's Conor Wallace at the Utilita Arena in an IBF light heavyweight final eliminator, with the winner becoming the mandatory challenger for the IBF world title.

It is another big night for Whittaker, who has become one of the biggest names in British light heavyweight boxing since turning professional following his Olympic silver medal at the Tokyo Games.

Since making the move into the professional side of the sport, Whittaker has built an unbeaten record, picking up 12 victories and one draw against Liam Cameron, with nine of those wins coming inside the distance.

Richard Rivera was his latest victim in June, with the Brit taking little time to dispatch his American opponent while making his US debut at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.

His second-round TKO victory over Rivera opened the door for more fights in front of a wider international audience.

His unorthodox style, slick movement and willingness to showboat have helped him build a huge following through social media, making him one of the most recognisable fighters in the country.

However, despite the attention surrounding the Brummie, there are still questions over how he will perform when faced with a genuine contender in the opposing corner.

Standing opposite Whittaker on the night will be Conor Wallace, a southpaw who might not be all too familiar to British boxing fans but is actually ahead of Whittaker in the IBF rankings.

Born in Northern Ireland, Wallace moved to Australia to continue his boxing career after being dropped from Northern Ireland's Commonwealth Games team.

Since opting to go down the professional route, Wallace has built a 17-1 record, with 12 of his victories coming inside the distance.

The 30-year-old has also picked up three regional titles throughout his career, including the Australian, IBF Pan-Pacific and WBO Inter-Continental light heavyweight titles.

Wallace's only professional defeat came against Leti Leti in 2021, when he lost the Australian light heavyweight title. However, he went on to avenge that loss over a year and a half later, stopping Leti in the sixth round despite being dropped himself in the third.

The Australian has since won 10 consecutive fights, including a split-decision victory over Jerome Pampellone, which helped propel him up the IBF rankings ahead of his clash with Whittaker.

For Whittaker, this is another opportunity to show the world that he belongs at the very top of the division, but Wallace has the chance to put a serious dent in the momentum surrounding one of British boxing's biggest names.

With Matchroom having plenty invested in their Brummie starlet, there is more than a mandatory position on the line in Birmingham.

Bilal Fawaz vs Eithan James is the co-main event and could be the most interesting fight of the night outside of the main event, with Fawaz defending his British and Commonwealth super welterweight titles.

The Londoner has rebuilt himself impressively since his split draw with Junaid Bostan, winning the rematch to claim the English title before stepping up and beating Ishmael Davis for the British and Commonwealth belts in February.

Fawaz then successfully defended those titles against Ryan Kelly in May, stopping him after nine rounds.

Standing in his way is Eithan James, who brings a 17-2 record into the contest.

The Northampton fighter has considerably more professional experience than Fawaz's recent opponents and is coming off a points victory over Hamza Azeem in July.

At 112lbs, Sean Bruce and Hamza Uddin will meet with the British and Commonwealth flyweight titles on the line.

Uddin is the unbeaten British champion and will be looking to add the Commonwealth belt to his collection against Leicester's Bruce.

The 23-year-old Walsall fighter has already established himself as one of the country's rising flyweight prospects and most recently returned to the ring in August, while Bruce comes into the fight with an 8-2 record.

There is another unbeaten-versus-unbeaten clash at super featherweight as Ibraheem Sulaimaan takes on Sonny Hardy for the English title.

Sulaimaan is 11-0 and has already established himself as the division's English champion, with the BBBofC confirming this as a voluntary defence of his belt.

Hardy, meanwhile, arrives with a perfect 12-0 record and five stoppages, giving Sulaimaan a challenger who has yet to taste defeat himself.

The other title fight sees Klinton Baptiste defend his Midlands Area super middleweight title against Aaron Bowen.

Baptiste is unbeaten at 5-0 and won the belt against Toby Bassett in June, but faces a considerably more experienced opponent in Bowen, who is 8-1 with six stoppages.

Elsewhere on the card, unbeaten Harley Burrows returns over six rounds at middleweight, while Adam Maca, who has won all seven of his professional bouts with five stoppages, is also set to feature.

Paige Murney faces Linzi Buczynskyj over four two-minute rounds, while Matchroom's latest signing Odel Kamara is set to make his professional debut against Greek boxer Thodoris Ritzakis, who holds a 5-5-1 record.

Ben Whittaker vs Conor Wallace takes place at Birmingham's Utilita Arena on Saturday, October 3. The event will be broadcast live on DAZN.