Eddie Hearn has ruled out a fight between Ben Whittaker and David Benavidez after the WBC light-heavyweight champion's dad called for the clash.

Whittaker punctuated the first fight of his Matchroom deal by icing Benjamin Gavazi in the first round of Saturday's clash in Birmingham.

The victory came a week after Benavidez had stopped Whittaker's compatriot Anthony Yarde in the seventh round of his world title defence at ANB Arena, Riyadh on November 22.

Benavidez himself has revealed he wants to fight in the UK and even suggested Whittaker as a potential opponent while his father, Jose Sr, this week called on Hearn to 'make it happen' in a post on social media.

But during an interview with The Ring on Wednesday, the Matchroom boss said: "We've got a real diamond on our hands in Ben Whittaker.

"I don't want to downplay the Benavidez fight but we are three or four fights away from fighting David Benavidez, that's the truth."

Meanwhile, at their convention in Thailand, the WBC officially ordered a final eliminator between Whittaker and fellow Brit Joshua Buatsi for the title currently held by Benavidez.

But Hearn also put a line through that one for now, with the 28-year-old from West Bromwich set to make his US debut in Q1 of 2026.

He said: "The WBC have ordered the Buatsi fight but we've got in our contract that Ben's going to fight overseas next anyway.

"Within our agreement, and these were plans made pre-Gavazi, we're already planned our fight for America around March time.

"So after that, with one more fight in us, then we will see about Buatsi. Thankfully in all my build-up stuff I was pretty honest about where we are. There is a long way between Gavazi and Benavidez - and there's quite a long way between Gavazi and Buatsi too.

"I spoke about those tiers. Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev and Benavidez in the top one, then Yarde, Callum Smith and Buatsi in the next one, then people like Dan Azeez and Craig Richards in the third one. We haven't got to that third one yet, but if we have to jump a level to face someone we will - I'm not ruling out the Buatsi fight.

"We are just being honest, we've got development to do. He’s had 11 fights, has phenomenal talent and is a massive star in the making and we will fight all those guys when the time is right.

"You may have to wait 18 months until we get there but when we get there, we’ll be ready. We are going to fight in America next and that's our priority for now."