Inspired by stablemate Jaron Ennis' seventh-round main event stoppage of Xander Zayas, Whittaker (12-0-1, 9 KOs) was glad to have experienced a much less strenuous assignment for his stateside debut.

As far as critics are concerned, therein lies the problem. He and Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn faced more resistance in the post-fight press conference, with some questioning when Whittaker will face a serious step-up in opposition quality after four consecutive stoppage wins in 14 months.

Connecticut's Rivera (27-3, 20 KOs) talked a big game pre-fight but hadn't boxed since a second-round knockout of little-known Roger Guerrero on a small hall show in Massachussetts in January 2025.

He withdrew from a proposed 10-rounder against The Ring's No. 4 contender Imam Khataev (12-1, 11 KOs) in December through an undisclosed injury and his disputed defeat to Badou Jack — the best opponent of his career — came four years ago.

"When you get hit like that, it doesn't matter what you come with ... no one was critical of the opponent [beforehand], he beat Badou Jack quite comfortably in my opinion and is a good fighter. When you're getting hit by shots you don't even see, can't really talk about resistance," Hearn said.

He insisted the Olympic silver medalist still has "many more levels" to go in the sport and division, citing examples behind matchmaking for one-round blowouts of Benjamin Gavazi and short-notice foe Braian Suarez prior.

Said to be headlining back in Birmingham come October, Whittaker was satisfied after putting the "icing on the cake" to a memorable fight week.

He said: "On paper he was a good opponent but I'm a step ahead, showed I'm the better fighter, it's down to my team and management to sort my next fight out ... whoever they put in-front of me, I'll beat them up."

When asked about his power, the 29-year-old praised his brother Jamie and head trainer Andy Lee.

"Jamie is my strength and conditioning coach," Whittaker said. "He's done a lot in the background for me making me strong, I went over to Ireland with Andy who isn't trying to change me too much. There's a time and a place to sit down on shots, I'm still having fun but when it's there [the opportunity for a finish], I clean them out."

Hearn was asked about a potential in-house matchup against Craig Richards, after which he outlined the pathway to get Whittaker ready for an extended stay at world-level.

A trio of Queensberry-promoted fighters were named, with all three featuring among The Ring's top-10 rankings at 175 pounds. During fight week, Whittaker welcomed facing three-time title challenger Anthony Yarde, while former WBO interim champion Joshua Buatsi (20-1, 13 KOs) is ranked No. 3 with the WBC for David Benavidez's title.

"No, we've not discussed that," said Hearn. "We have to start positioning for a world title, a big domestic name or a fight that will get him mandatory [challenger], final eliminator.

"You can't go from Rivera to [Dmitry] Bivol and Benavidez, [Artur] Beterbiev, there are two or three more in-between those guys, we have to go through the levels and understand he's still relatively inexperienced in the professional code.

"This was his first completed round tonight in a year... he's demolishing these levels, let's keep progressing at pace. There are loads of them. Buatsi, Yarde, Willy Hutchinson, Callum Smith will fight Bivol most likely, this is where we've got to be."