The house of light heavyweight star Ben Whittaker was burgled while he knocked out Benjamin Gavazi in Birmingham on Saturday night.

Whittaker stopped the German visitor in just 135 seconds at the National Exhibition Centre but returned home to find intruders had been in his home.

He even revealed that they took his IBF international title belt that he won when he outpointed Ezra Arenyeka over 10 rounds in June 2024.

Whittaker (10-0-1, 7 KOs) uploaded a short video on Instagram that showed the kitchen window the thieves have appeared to enter through, pledging to reward anyone that can help him find the perpetrators.

"Highs and lows of the sport," Whittaker said from his kitchen in Wednesbury in the west Midlands.

"I come back and my house has been burgled."

The 28-year-old had made light work of Gavazi, dropping and stopping him inside the first round of what was his Matchroom debut.

It is unclear whether the burglars targeted his house because they knew he was busy on Saturday night. The news follows a trend of similar break-ins at the houses of high-profile footballers while playing away from home.

Whittaker added: "Wednesbury, I’ve got a big, big reward find these people, let me know.

"They've even taken my IBF belt, what are they going to do with that? Let me know, hit me up in the DMs for a big reward, love."

The discovery provided a low ending note to what had been a spectacular night for Whittaker in his first fight of his new Matchroom deal.

He had been out of action since April when he stopped Liam Cameron inside two rounds of what proved to be his final act as a Boxxer-promoted fighter.

Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn told The Ring that his next outing is likely to take place in February with a US debut being planned for that date.

All being well, The Surgeon is then expected to return to England in the summer for another headline event.

Hearn said: "There will be a lot of pressure from DAZN in the UK to keep Ben over here because he does massive numbers but they've got to buy into the development as well.

"I think he'd do really well in America, he has a massive following over there already socially.

"I think they'd love his style and his showmanship and it would suit us to fight an America opponent and we will have to see who that could be,

"He's a superstar in the making. We've got to keep stepping him up, keep everyone interested but also gain the ring time and experience before we gamble."