Interviews
EXCLUSIVE: Denzel Bentley – Becoming a Powerhouse
“Good question, can you hear the last bell? I want to keep him. I think I can stop him, but regardless, I’m prepared for 12 rounds. If I see an opportunity, I take it, if not, I feel comfortable making the rounds. I don’t force you to do anything.”
As Denzel Bentley prepares for the biggest fight of his professional career to date, he imagines his opponent on the canvas as the referee counts more than ten seconds.
Felix Cash will enter the ring with the Commonwealth title hanging from his belt, but Bentley intends to leave the ring after adding the Commonwealth title to his British title.
It’s a fighting week, but “2 Piercing” came out on top proboxing-fans.com while walking down memory lane, recalling his first day at the boxing gym: “I remember it was weird. I’ve never been to a boxing gym before.
“Everyone was already training. I think I might have been delayed, everyone was a bit hostile. I thought, “Jesus, that’s a bit rude.”
“I thought, ‘Oh, I want to box’ – they asked if I could box and I said no, and they said, ‘Well, you’re delayed, the locker rooms are over there, sign your name and keep fighting.’ I think, “Will no one show me this or walk me through the session?”
It wasn’t until several months later that Denzel was trained to properly punch, pull, and weave while correcting his posture. A year later, Bentley competed for the first time as an amateur.
Under the influence of Adrien Broner and Floyd Mayweather, Denzel may have approached boxing with pound signs, but the Battersea fighter quickly realized that it wasn’t just about billions.
“[I started boxing because I thought] there’s a lot of money to be made, which is why I thought this boxing game was kind of infirmed. Broner had “On Billions” and Mayweather had a lot of stuff on YouTube and I thought, “This is infirmed,” so I got into it!
“Once you start, of course [boxing] you realize it’s far from it. This is the highest level in the sport and not everyone can have it. I just started liking it and I loved it. I just wanted to continue boxing whether I made it or not.
Denzel, now in his delayed teens and early twenties, not only liked science, he was good at it. Often praised by his peers, this motivated Bentley to pursue the career of his dreams.
“I was told I was good at it. Every time I sparred with someone they asked how many fights I had and they said, “You’re good for two fighters” and stuff like that, so I was always good in terms of the level of experience I got. had.
“I think I really wanted to take it seriously when I dropped out of college. I don’t remember what made me do it, but I dropped out of college because I wanted to do it.
“I think it was because I just watched it more and I just thought I wanted to be there, on the gigantic stage. I just thought, “I’m going to drop everything I’m doing and stick to boxing and grinding it out.”
“I studied sports science but dropped out to pursue boxing.”
Battersea may not be synonymous with boxing, but it has had links with the sport for years. Just a few years ago, the likes of David Haye and George Groves trained at the former McGuigan’s Gym location.
Go back even further and you’ll see Howard Eastman working on the roads around Battersea. The 26-year-old recently began comparing himself to Eastman, a figure he admitted he had no idea about until recently.
Denzel now praises the rise of boxing in his area and credits Carney’s Community for what it does for the community.
“They are very helpful, man. Children are energetic and need something to burn off their energy.
“Youth clubs are no longer as popular as those where there are sessions that everyone wants to take part in, boys and girls, they just want to burn some energy instead of just going to school and coming home so they don’t just bored or hanging around outside for no reason.
The determining factors for Denzel’s success are the time and strenuous work put in and continue to be put in by his parents, especially his mother, whom he considers his inspiration.
“She puts in a lot of work, she did a lot to make us the people we are today. Of course, my dad is still around, but he lives in Ghana, he also works there. They both do their best to make sure that all four of us are good, decent people.
“I saw how strenuous they worked, how strenuous they worked, and they didn’t bring me here to waste opportunities. They weren’t born here like me, the opportunities were different, especially at the time they were born.
“Now we were born in a place where everything is at your fingertips, if you put in the work you can go out there and work your ass off and it will be easier than they had to work strenuous to get it, so I can” I don’t get any slack because it’s it’s a kick in the balls for them to do all this and I have no intention of pursuing him [my goals]”
His next goal is to win the Commonwealth title and add to the British middleweight belt he already holds. This Saturday night’s opponent will be Felix Cash, who is another undefeated fighter crossing enemy lines to fight on the Queensberry Promotions show.
“I’m joyful to get this fight, I’m joyful to have another title on the line, I’m joyful to get another belt. It’s bigger than [Mark] Heffron fights and it takes me to another level.
“It helps me get recognition. All the strenuous work I had put in was finally noticed and it was finally paying off.”
After whispers that the Matchroom fighter might have chosen a different route, there were doubts whether this fight would happen, but now we are here and the fight will take place at the York Hall in Bethnal Green.
“No, honestly, I didn’t think it would happen, but it did, so I can’t complain. I thought they would go the European route, but Felix said he wanted to be British champion and wanted to take that route to keep the game fair for him.
“But it might have been a situation where they couldn’t get it [European title] fight for the line and it was still an option, but either way I don’t care how the fight happened, as long as it’s going on and it’s happening, I’m joyful with it. It’s time to shake things up, man.
A powered Bentley can accelerate from 0-60 in the blink of an eye and Denzel will be keen to take on Cash, who has defended his Commonwealth title twice, with the engine full of petrol and there will be no backing down.
Natasha Jonas unified the welterweight division by defeating Ivana Habazin by clear points on Saturday to add the WBC title to her IBF crown at the Exhibition Center in Liverpool.
Jonas (16-2-1, 9 KO) was last seen defending her title in January in a hard-fought split decision over Mikaela Mayer, while Habazin (23-6, 7 KO) won the vacant WBC welterweight title in her home country. time out, winning by wide points over Kinga Magyar.
After a technical opening round, Jonas settled into a steady rhythm before landing a powerful right hand in the fourth round that crushed Habazin.
There was a rivalry, but the home favorite was much better in the rallies and seemed to be losing round after round.
This situation lasted until the final bell, when Jonas became the winner by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 99-92.
Price is closing in on Jonas’ match
Lauren Price definitely stayed on as a collision course with Jonas and easily defended her WBA and IBO welterweight titles after a third-round fight against Bexcy Mateus.
Mateus (7-1, 6 KO) was on board in the first round, after the Welshman landed a powerful left hand, and the Colombian struggled to match Price’s speed.
The same shot caused the 29-year-old to repeat the punch in the second round, and the round later ended when another stinging left hand stunned Meteus and she fell to the canvas, after which the fight was stopped.
Price (8-0, 2 KO) has agreed to face Jonas next, and promoter Ben Shalom revealed it could be announced next week.
Knife edge passes McKenna
Lee Cutler scored an upset victory to claim the silver WBC International welterweight title after winning a majority decision against Stephen McKenna.
McKenna (15-1, 14 KO) was eliminated in the first round, his knee touching the canvas after being tagged, and Cutler (15-1, 7 KO) took full advantage of his opponent’s weakness in the seventh round when his right hand plunged into his knee. The Irishman who ultimately fell once again.
McKenna was relentless in his attacks and landed a huge number of punches.
The balance of 94-94 was surpassed by the scores of 95-93 and 96-92, which ensured the victory for Cutler.
Jeffers stopped Quartey
Mark Jeffers is on track for large fights in 2025 after defeating Joshua Quartey to defend his silver Commonwealth super middleweight title.
A pair of right hands put Quartey (10-1, 9 KO) on the board, and although he broke the count, a well-placed body shot after the restart by Jeffers (19-0, 6 KO) blew the guy away again.
A crazy attack after the restart forced a stoppage.
Riley secures Chamberlain’s face-off with a stoppage
Viddal Riley finished the heavyweight fight and stopped Dan Garber in the second of the scheduled six rounds.
Riley (12-0, 7 KO) hit Garber (7-4, 2 KO) with his right hand, and then his next attack forced the referee’s intervention.
Riley’s next match will be against Isaac Chamberlain on February 1.
Undercard remaining
Mason Cartwright (21-4-1, 8 KO) won all six rounds at super welterweight against Dzmitry Atrokhau (16-25, 7 KO), and Hope lightweight Frankie Stringer (9-0, 1 KO) did the same in the fight against Tatenda Mangombe (3-9-1).
In the flyweight division, Mikie Tallon (6-0) defeated Benn Norman (7-7) with a body shot in the first round of the match, and then settled for a 59-54 victory.
The only fighter to fight four rounds in the super featherweight division was Mason Devine (6-0, 1 KO), who won every session against Jayo Fernando Duran (15-34-1, 14 KO).
Dillian Whyte has revealed his predictions for the hotly anticipated rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury on December 21.
Fury, who knocked out Whyte at Wembley Stadium in 2022, will seek revenge for the only defeat of his career in just 11 days, after losing to Usyk by split decision earlier this year.
Despite losing the night, “The Gypsy King” was a major success and many are struggling to pick a winner in his second battle against the imperious Ukrainian.
Some experts believe Fury needs to be more aggressive and take the lead if he is to win.
I’m talking to Social boxingWhyte revealed he shared that view, asking the Morecambe man to return to the game plan that saw him destroy Deontay Wilder in the return leg.
“It’s a great fight, man, I’m still trying to think – how will this fight go?
“Okay, Fury can make changes, but Usyk can make changes too. It’s a tough fight, a very, very tough fight for both fighters.
“If I were Fury’s coach, I would tell him he has to play aggressively.
“Fight him like you fought Wilder the second time.
“Bring back the aggression, bring back the tyrant!
“This is heavyweight boxing – you never know.”
It is unclear whether Fury will heed the advice of Whyte and others in the boxing world who have advised him to take the fight to Usyk, but looks noticeably heavier than before the first fight.
What are the changes? ❌@Tyson_Fury says he will exploit exactly the same game plan as the first time when he faces Oleksandr Usyk at the end of the month.
Thinks? 🧐 pic.twitter.com/VtpEwLJkWx
— Professional boxing fans (@ProBoxingFans) December 6, 2024
Win or lose, the 36-year-old could face a long-awaited home fight against Anthony Joshua, even though “A.J.” interrupted defeat against Daniel Dubois in September.
While it may not have been as great a spectacle as it once was, a clash between Joshua and Fury would still be by far the biggest all-British fight in recent memory.
As for Whyte, he returns to the ring next Sunday night and will face Ghanaian heavyweight Ebenezer Tetteh live on DAZN in Gibraltar.
The All-American fight between lightweight world champions Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson is one of the most anticipated fights in all of boxing.
Both Davis and Stevenson are undefeated multi-weight champions and are staples on any respected pound-for-pound list.
With this in mind, you could be forgiven for assuming that the pair locking corners in their prime years is a given, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen in the near future.
“Tank” spoke to the media at the press conference inaugurating his performance March 1 fight with Lamont Roach, and when the prospect of fighting Stevenson arose, he didn’t seem particularly interested.
The Baltimore hitter even went so far as to question what his compatriot did to deserve him.
“What for? Who has Shakur [beat]? What did Shakur do?
“What has he achieved in sports? He didn’t do anything! Juvenile people look better than him!”
“Keyshawn [Davis] you look so much better than that nigga! Shout it out nigga, he ain’t done nothing!
I asked Gervonta about a possible fight with Shakur… #Box #TankRoach pic.twitter.com/T1eNFJ9iIO
— Dwa O Dwa Z.. (@Noo_Barzz) December 3, 2024
“Why the hell are you saying his name?”
Like Davis, Stevenson will also return to action in the first quarter of next year, fighting against up-and-comer Floyd Schofield on the February 22 Riyad season card.
The Newark southpaw has been sidelined since his July decision victory over Artem Harutyunyan after he had to withdraw from a proposed October fight with Joe Cordina due to injury.
Saudi boxing boss Turki Alalshikh has expressed his willingness to have a fight between the two virtuosos, provided both are successful in their upcoming fights.
‼️ His Excellency Turki Alalshikh stated that he wants the Gervonta Davis vs Shakur Stevenson fight: “My plan for Shakur is this fight [vs Floyd Schofield]then William Zepeda, and then let’s see if Tank wants to come on our show.” [@DAZNBoxing] pic.twitter.com/Mmi6hO7Fjo
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBenson) December 3, 2024
While he undoubtedly has the talent to rival Davis, Stevenson is not as commercial a star as his rival, and some critics believe he needs to start giving more entertaining performances if he wants to get substantial names.
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