Becoming unofficial mayor of Wolverhampton ‘dream come true’, says Olympic boxer

Boxer Ben Whittaker has said becoming the unofficial mayor of Wolverhampton for a day was a “dream come true”.

The city’s mayor Greg Brackenridge said the Olympic silver medallist had “earned a day with the mayoral chains” following his performances at the Tokyo Games.

Whittaker said his role for the day involved seeing youngsters at gyms to “hopefully inspire” them to follow in his footsteps.

The 24-year-old received a generous welcome at Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Molineux stadium on Sunday as he donned his mayoral chains.

He won silver in Tokyo after losing a split decision to Cuba’s Arlen Lopez in the men’s light-heavyweight final.

Whittaker said: “I’m an Olympic silver medallist but while I was over there I had a laugh and a joke about becoming the mayor.

“And now look, a dream has become a reality and I’m mayor for the day – it’s a good little day.

“It’s been a busy, busy day.

“We’ve been to gyms to see the young generation and hopefully inspire those.

“We’ve taken a few photos, watched (the football), so it’s been a busy day but a good day.

“Hopefully I can be someone to look up to for the young generation.

“There’s so many negative things going on in the whole world so with a bit of positivity, I want to show them that if I can do it, they can do it.

“Hopefully we’ll see a few more Olympic medallists.”