Denzel Bentley announced his matchup against Shane Mosley Jr. for November 7 in London, yet he moved forward without getting the green light to bypass mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez. That choice puts his WBO middleweight title on thin ice.

Signing a multi-fight pact with Zuffa hands Bentley a fresh promotional backing, but that paperwork does nothing to clear his mandatory duties. Naming Mosley before the sanctioning body rules on his petition turns the formal request into an afterthought, giving the impression that he expects rubber-stamp approval for a done deal.

Bentley maintains that the belt stays around his waist while he petitions for permission to box Mosley. Those remarks show the appeal remains unresolved, even though organizers have already made public plans for the London date.

“Most importantly I am still currently the WBO middleweight champion,” Bentley told Sky Sports News. “I know everything that’s gone on online and all the rumours [that he could be stripped of belt]. My team has put in an appeal, that appeal has gone through. We are hoping that we can get through this appeal and we get to defend this WBO title against a game, ranked opponent too.”

Mosley sitting in the rankings gives Bentley talking points, yet it fails to address Hernandez holding the inside track. The sanctioning body already mandated the defense, completed the purse bid, and watched Warriors Boxing win the rights. Bentley is simply asking officials to move Hernandez aside so another challenger can cut in line.

HOW ‘BOUT THIS CO-MAIN EVENT 🤯

🇬🇧 @2Sharp_D at @ShaneMosleyJr 🇺🇸#ZuffaBoxing12 | 🎟️ https://t.co/5UKwop50iz pic.twitter.com/vaMOkzH16X

— Zuffa_Boxing (@Zuffa_Boxing) October 2, 2026

The bout fills the co-feature slot for Zuffa Boxing 12 at Copper Box Arena, supporting the Chris Billam-Smith versus Cheavon Clarke headliner. Mosley already fights under the Zuffa banner, so the matchmaking fits the promotional playbook.

Convincing Hernandez to stand aside presents a much steeper hill to climb, especially since his title shot already went through a purse bid. Warriors Boxing secured promotional rights with a $200,000 bid once direct talks collapsed. Hernandez holds an officially ordered shot backed by money on the table, putting him far ahead of someone just asking for a turn.

Bentley jumping out ahead of the sanctioning body does not guarantee an immediate stripping, so writing off his reign today jumps the gun. Still, pressing ahead without permission leaves him backed into a corner where he must satisfy the mandatory, secure an official exception, or forfeit the belt.

The WBO already took a hard line by telling Bentley that Hernandez came first when talk turned toward an Aaron McKenna unification. Sanctioning a voluntary run against Mosley now forces the organization to justify giving Hernandez another delay.

Zuffa delivers solid commercial upside and a home crowd in London, which makes Bentley’s interest clear. Still, those perks give no justification for stripping away a mandatory shot that Hernandez rightfully earned.

Gervonta Davis is set to return to action in the new year and ‘Tank’ may well do so in an immediate world title challenge, with one fighter willing to offering him a shot at his old belt under one condition.

Davis has held titles at super-featherweight and super-lightweight but was most recently the WBA lightweight champion, until his prolonged stretch of inactivity – since March 2025 – caused the Baltimore knockout artist to be stripped of his world title.

Instead, the 31-year-old has been named as the WBA’s ‘champion-in-recess’ in the 135lb division, with Floyd Schofield and Lucas Bahdi scheduled to compete for the full vacant WBA crown next weekend in Chicago.

Speaking ahead of that fight, Schofield told Fight Hub TV that he would be more than willing to defend the title against Davis, if he is able to overcome Bahdi and become the new lightweight world champion at the age of just 24 years old.

“I’m not going to lie. If Tank did want to come back and was like, ‘I want that fight and I want that belt back,’ I have no problem with it because he is the so-called boogeyman.

“Like I have always been saying, if you get Tank on your record, if you beat Tank, then there is not a lot that people can say.

“Until then, I am looking to collect all of the belts at 135lbs and to then go on to 140lbs.”

Schofield-Bahdi will take place at the Wintrust Arena on Saturday, October 10, with Ricardo Sandoval defending his unified WBC and WBA flyweight world titles against fellow Mexican Sergio Mendoza Cordova in the co-main event.

Either Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua will join Lennox Lewis as the second three-time heavyweight world champion from the UK when they collide in later this year, and ‘The Lion’ has now updated his prediction for the contest.

After prolonged negotiations and their respective ‘warm-up’ bouts against Mariusz Wach and Kristian PrengaFury and Joshua are finally set to enter the ring against each other. Wednesday’s launch press conference saw the two men come face to face for the first time, following what was a surprisingly friendly affair.

Having witnessed those fights back in July, Lewis admitted that he was favouring ‘The Gypsy King’ to come out on top in the long-awaited bout, believing his two most recent showings to be more impressive than those of Joshua, as per DAZN.

“Fury is closer but both are shadows of their former selves.I’dside with Fury,

“He showed me more in his two fights [against Arslanbek Makhmudov and Wach] than Joshua has recently. He boxed a YouTuber [Jake Paul]now boxed a guy [Prenga] who knocked him down twice and next faces Fury? That’s a big step up.”

However, at the launch press conference for the fight between the duo – which will now be for the WBA (Super) heavyweight world title – Lewis declared that the bout will be determined by punch accuracy.

“For me, the most accurate puncher out of the both of them [will win]. Tyson is an accurate puncher and ‘AJ’ throws a great one-two.

“He has caught many people with the one-two. That is his most accurate combination, to me.”

Fury-Joshua will take place at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on December 11, with Amir Khan now being linked to an appearance in the co-main event.