Ben Whittaker ‘hauled away by airport security in Saudi Arabia after SMASHING a fan’s phone’ hours after toppling over the ropes and injuring his leg in bout against Liam Cameron

The British boxer had been forced to settle for a technical split-decision draw

He was later spotted walking through the airport in Riyadh by one spectator

After the incident, he apologised and offered to pay for a replacement phone

British boxer Ben Whittaker furiously smashed a fan’s phone at an airport in Saudi Arabia before being hauled away by security, a witness has claimed.

Whittaker, 27, was spotted walking through King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh just hours after his technical split-decision draw with Liam Cameron.

In farcical scenes on Saturday night, Whittaker suffered a leg injury after toppling over the ropes in the fifth round of his bout and was prevented from continuing.

After being taken back to his dressing room in a wheelchair, the former Olympian punched a hole through a wall in frustration while Cameron claimed his opponent had looked for a ‘way out’ of the fight, alleging he had ‘seen it on camera’.

Ankle bandaged, Whittaker made his way through duty free shortly after midnight when one fan approached him and attempted to take a picture.

Ben Whittaker smashed a fan’s phone at an airport hours after his bout against Liam Cameron

Whittaker suffered a leg injury in the fifth round and was unable to continue in Riyadh

Both fighters had toppled up and over the ropes, leaving Whittaker requiring a wheelchair

A nearby witness, who was booked on the same Saudi Airlines flight to Heathrow, told The Sun: ‘I spotted Ben Whittaker coming through security and then a fan who had a boxing T-shirt on went up with his phone and went to take a photo.

‘Ben said “don’t take no photos of me” and snatched the phone out of his hand and smashed it straight on the floor.

‘Ben stepped towards him, looked like he was gonna punch him and some of Ben’s team jumped in between them.

‘It got really heated – they were shouting at each other.’

The unnamed witness said airport security then detained both men.

Whittaker and the man – who was wearing merchandise from the fight – are said to have initially had their passports taken off them but soon swapped details.

After they were taken to a nearby coffee shop and sat side by side at the same table, Whittaker is alleged to have offered to cover the cost of the phone.

‘This was a really unfortunate event and I’m grateful to the gentleman that he sat down to talk about it straight afterwards and accepted my apology,’ Whittaker said.

‘Unfortunately I can’t comment further on the alleged video recording as I have not seen it. In any case, we are in touch about replacing his phone and coming along to a future event as our guest.’

Whittaker was spotted walking through the airport duty free the following morning

His showdown against Cameron went to the judges scorecards and was ruled a draw

Whittaker punched a hole through a wall in frustration after being wheeled away from the ring

Whittaker punched a hole through a wall in frustration after being wheeled away from the ring

Despite taking place in Saudi Arabia, Whittaker’s fight was governed under the jurisdiction of the British Boxing Board of Control, whose rules stipulate that a bout stopped because of an accidental injury must go to the judges’ scorecards.

Whittaker and Cameron were each awarded a 58-57 score while a third judge ruled the showdown a 58-58 draw, resulting in the split-decision technical draw.

Cameron was visibly frustrated in the ring when the scorecards were read out.