Darlaston's grounded Olympic hero Ben Whittaker ready to join the pro ranks

It was green and just a few inches tall.

“I was running round the park and this iguana came wandering out across the path,” he explains. “I turned straight around and ran straight back to the house!”

Whittaker, it transpires, is no fan of lizards, meaning temperatures which regularly topped more than forty degrees weren’t the most challenging aspect of his Florida training camp.

“There were 1,000s of them, just walking round the streets,” he continues. “It certainly kept me on my toes, helped me stay sharp.

“You’d got geckos, lots of insects too like cockroaches and then the iguanas. I probably brought a couple home in my suitcase!”

That last quip is delivered with the same cheeky, ice white grin which helped Whittaker became something of a media darling during last summer’s Olympics.

Nearly 12 months on from Tokyo and on the eve of his long-awaited professional debut over six rounds against Greg O’Neil in Bournemouth on Saturday, it is heartening to report he remains as affable and charming as ever.

Winning silver might, in Whittaker’s words, have earned him a few more Instagram followers and ensured trips to the supermarket now take a little longer than before.

“But essentially, I’m still the same Ben,” he says. “I still go to the same places I used to.

“I do get recognised a bit more. I’ll be in Asda and someone will say: ‘Oh, I saw you on TV’. But that’s just nice. It is nice to know the hard work is paying off.

“All I am doing is putting little Darlaston on the map. It is good for all of us.”

Whittaker still lives in Darlaston with his parents, Tony and Karen.

“My mom still cooks, cleans and looks after me,” says the 25-year-old, before laughing: “I think she’s getting annoyed about me leaving my dirty pants everywhere.”

It is the continued influence of his parents which makes you confident Whittaker will always keep at least one foot planted on the ground, no matter how high his star might ascend.

His boxing career might now be guided by Tyson Fury’s mentor, Sugar Hill Steward, yet it is Tony, once a fine amateur fighter himself, who remains his biggest critic.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” says Whittaker. “If he wasn’t, I’d still probably be doing the same silly things as when I was 16.

“Each year I have gotten better, each day I get better because I want to impress him.”

Whittaker has always been quick to stress the sacrifices made by his parents in helping him realise his boxing ambitions. Having successfully navigated the tough pathway to Olympic success, they will be the first to benefit from his move into the paid ranks.

“The first thing I will do when I get a bit more money is buy them a house, or buy their house outright for them, so they don’t have to worry about that. I’ll think about myself after,” he explains.

Whittaker recently signed his first professional deal with Boxxer promotions, while he is being looked after by Anthony Joshua’s 258MGT.

“You hear a lot of people say of boxers: ‘They are just doing it for the money’,” he smiles. “Well yeah, we are. You wouldn’t box for free, would you?

“There is no financial reward in amateur but if you believe in yourself, stay the course and go to the Olympics it opens up the door. That’s what it did for me.

“I started off doing the suffering, this is the paid ranks and it can change my life and my family’s life. If I have kids, or anything like that, it can change theirs. I am just setting up a future.”

On a different note, Whittaker knows he has the potential to help shape the lives of others. Diagnosed with ADHD as a child, expelled from school with no qualifications and then sacked from two jobs before committing himself full-time to boxing, his story is inspirational.

“I know I’m a role model. It matters,” he says. “I was no good in the classroom but I excelled in sport.

“There are probably a lot of kids out there like that, who just need a different outlet. Even if I only inspire one person, I’ll have done some good.”

Whittaker has made no secret of his big ambitions, with a stated aim of becoming British champion within his first five fights. Rarely before has a Midlands boxer turning pro created such a buzz.

Yet his is a confidence which never crosses the line into cockiness. Neither can there be any doubt he’s put the work in. The Miami trip might have been the source of amusing anecdotes but it was, first and foremost, a relentless training exercise, with Whittaker putting the finishing touches to his preparations at former professional Anthony Manning’s south Birmingham gym, his UK base.

“All people see is the night, the show. They don’t see the lead up to it or the work which goes in,” he says.

“There are a lot of sacrifices to be made. You go to places like Miami, away from family and your whole life changes. You get taken out of your comfort zone, getting up early, going running, training, getting bloody noses and sore eyes.

“But it’s been that way since I was a kid, when I used to get up before school and go running, come back from school and go running or training. It has all been leading up to this. I have been preparing for this my whole life.”