Bentley vs Osaze

A HEADY MIDDLEWEIGHT mix is brewing in this country and, on Saturday, Denzel Bentley added a dash of his own ingredients to the potent cocktail.

On the familiar turf of York Hall, Denzel showed himself to be back to his pomp with a destructive dismissal of the threat presented by Derrick Osaze, who had only tasted defeat once before to the now European champion Tyler Denny.

It was a showreel stoppage for the Battersea Banger and he is reacquiring his liking for a quick finish. Three of his last four have ended inside of six minutes, with the blot on his copybook being his decision loss to Nathan Heaney.

You will struggle to witness a more clinical and well executed uppercut than the one that sent Osaze on his way. It was textbook stuff and it demonstrated that Denzel really is a cut above domestic level.

Truth be told, without the loss to Nathan, he would have waved goodbye to the scene last year for good.

Fair play to him, Denzel dusted himself down quickly and insisted that he did not want any routine eight-rounders to get himself back in the swing of things. Instead he has shown his class with two show stopping performances against Danny Dignum and Osaze.

Now there is all to play for and options aplenty.

Middleweight has long been a traditional stronghold in British boxing and there are opportunities to be seized in the division. In our ranks we’ve got Denzel, Hamzah Sheeraz, Nathan, Brad Pauls and James Heneghan flying the flag for us, along with several younger hopefuls starting out.

It is about to get very interesting because Hamzah - the WBC Silver champion - is set to face the Euro champ Denny at the Wembley Edition of Riyadh Season on September 21.

Hamzah is clearly leading the pack at the moment and I do anticipate him fighting for a world title in the near future, should he overcome Denny, as he enjoys lofty rankings with both the WBC and WBO.

I firmly believe Hamzah has a glittering future in front of him and is destined to become a world champion. Perhaps in more than one division.

I would still love to see Hamzah and Denzel get it on because there is no doubt it would be a fight that delivers for the fans in a big way. Denzel remains extremely confident that he can better Hamzah and has always wanted the fight.

There are other options. Denzel is also ranked highly by the WBO and would relish the opportunity to play it again with Janibek Alimkhanuly. The Kazakh holds both the WBO and IBF belts, but I do not think he is the monster some people make him out to be.

If Denzel had believed in himself a bit sooner in their late-2022 fight it could have been a very different story. A sequel would be a great fight to bring over here.

The WBC title is held by Carlos Adames and this fight is a great option for Hamzah, with the WBA title held by Erislandy Lara who, at the age of 41, has surely seen better days.

It all means that opportunities will surely knock for our clutch of 160-pounders and don’t rule out Brad or Nathan fighting their way into the picture.

WINS
21
LOSES
3
DRAW
1
KOs
17

DenzelBentley

"2 Sharp"

DENZEL BENTLEY IS now right back in the hunt for a WBO world title shot following on from his heroic display against the avoided champion Janibek Alimkhanuly in November 2022 over in Las Vegas.

Bentley pushed the fearsome Kazakh all the way and, had he taken the fight to the champion earlier, he might not have ultimately suffered a defeat on points.

Then the proud owner of the British title belt for the second time following his defeat of the unbeaten Linus Udofia, Bentley enjoyed a successful first defence with a resounding victory over Marcus Morrison before heading to Las Vegas less than three months later to take on Alimkhanuly.

The Londoner was devastated when he lost his British title inside three rounds against Commonwealth champion Felix Cash in April 2021.

Although it was a pick ‘em fight, Bentley never got going and he remains hell bent on revenge against his bitter British rival.

Promoter Frank Warren continues in backing Bentley to have a huge future and the middleweight is now off and running once more.

Bentley won the British crown in impressive fashion in November 2020 when he overwhelmed Mark Heffron in a rematch.

Although Heffron was pulled by his corner after round four because of a swollen left eye, Bentley’s punches caused the damage and he appeared to have the upper hand against his Mancunian rival.

When they had met two months earlier there had been nothing to separate the pair. All three judges’ scored the bout 95-95.

Warren moved to sign Bentley after his seventh fight when he stepped in at four hours notice and stopped 2021 Olympian Serge Ambomo in November 2018.

He quickly impressed over the next six months knocking out Emmanuel Moussinga and Julio Cesar before Pavol Garaj was outpointed.

In September 2019 he moved up a level in a supposed 50-50 fight against unbeaten Kelcie Ball and blew away his rival inside a round.

Bentley has been a pro since October 2017 when he kicked off his paid career with a first round stoppage of Casey Blair.

Bentley made a further, spectacular defence of his British title against the Scot Kieran Smith at the Copper Box Arena in April 2023, knocking out his opponent with just 45 seconds on the clock.

But then he suffered a shock reverse in the November 18 defending his British title against the undefeated Nathan Heaney in Manchester.

Stunning second round knockouts of both Danny Dignum and Derrick Osaze this year have put Bentley right back on the road towards world title contention.