Denzel Bentley, having learned from his setbacks, says, ‘You can always come back’

Denzel Bentley has already pieced together a spectacular highlight reel, but his second-round stoppage of Derrick Osaze last month has shot straight to the top of his own list of favorites.

“Nah, I’ve watched it a million times,” Bentley told BoxingScene. “On everything. I’ve watched it on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. All the angles. Sometimes I just go on YouTube and I’ll be like, ‘Let me see how many views there is on it,’ and I just watch the whole thing. It’s only two minutes.

“Yeah, that’s my favorite one so far.”

Bentley (20-3-1, 17 KOs) couldn’t have timed the right uppercut that froze Osaze where he stood any better. For starters, it brought an always-welcome swift and dramatic end to his night’s work. But with his high-profile middleweight rivals all set to see action in the coming weeks, the spectacular finish assured that Bentley will remain an explosive, high-quality presence at 160 pounds in the immediate present and won’t be overshadowed by the upcoming escapades of Chris Eubank Jr., Hamzah Sheeraz and Tyler Denny.

Last week’s news that Bentley’s promoter, Frank Warren, had offered Eubank fights with Bentley and Sheeraz was music to the 29-year-old’s Bentley’s ears. Eubank may have knocked back the idea, but Bentley was pleased that Warren had made such a public show of support. 

“It’s good. It’s good,” he said. “And I need that for my career, so more people can just hear my name.

“I’m not one of the fighters that have been getting that throughout my career. I’ve had to fight for this position, so I’m grateful and I’ve done it the hard way, so to say. To have Frank in my corner, I think he’s seen that I’m a serious contender in this division and he believes in me, so he’s going to fight [in] my corner, which is great.

“Now, it sounds like by what Frank is saying that they’re willing to make the fights that I’d want, rather than me just taking-what-they’re-giving kind of thing.”

Sheeraz and the European champion Denny will meet at London’s Wembley Stadium on Sept. 21, and Eubank will fight Kamil Szeremeta in Saudi Arabia on Oct. 12. Bentley can watch events unfold, safe in the knowledge that the effects will cause ripples for his own career. He won’t be sitting on his hands waiting to be given an opportunity, though. He may not know exactly which direction his career will move in next, but he wants to keep forging ahead and make sure that his claims remain undeniable.

“I don’t know, man. I’m No. 2 with the WBO, so I’d like to get something off that,” he said. “I’d like to get a world title eliminator. That would be nice. So, yeah, there’s loads of options.

“I’m just waiting to see how it all pans out. But whatever happens on Sept. 21, it’ll give me enough time to be out in December or something.

“Everyone that knows me knows I enjoy being active, and I think it’s better for me. All the years where I’ve been active is where I perform my best.”

The way Bentley took Osaze apart was a vivid indicator of just how far he has come.

Bentley has learned on the job. As teenagers, he and his brother bought gloves and headguards from a local market and would fight all comers – and each other – on his local estate.

He has steadily improved and taken calculated risks, famously getting his major break from Frank Warren by taking a fight with the dangerous Serge Ambomo on just a couple of hours’ notice after sparring 10 rounds earlier that morning.

Bentley is a two-time British middleweight champion, but things haven’t gone smoothly. He was still relatively inexperienced when he suffered a quick COVID-era stoppage loss to Felix Cash back in 2021.

He rebounded and put in a brave but unsuccessful challenge for Janibek Alimkhanuly’s WBO middleweight title the following year but then put in a lackluster performance and lost a majority decision to an inspired Nathan Heaney when personal issues outside of the ring clouded Bentley’s judgment and preparation.

After every setback, however, Bentley has rededicated himself and reappeared as a better fighter.

Against Osaze he was calm and precise and ruthlessly did exactly what a world-level fighter should do to a solid domestic-level operator. 

“It’s mad because that’s how I box when I’m sparring,” Bentley said. ”But in a fight, I’ve never gotten to show that because you get different feelings. In the fight, you just feel different.

“You feel a little bit more aggressive, and it’s like, ‘Oh, I’m going to break someone down’ or ‘I want to hurt them’ and blah, blah, blah. But it’s been learning to just relax and stay patient.

“We know everyone that comes to fight against me. They’re more than likely going to try and start fast. They’re going to look at the Cash defeat and think that if you start fast … you [can] get him. So I ain’t really got to match them physically, but mentally, I’ve got to stay sharp and don’t panic and just be defensively responsible.

“I know my power. I’ve got power on the back foot, as I’ve shown, and I’ve got power on the front foot, as I’ve also shown. So it doesn’t really matter which way I’m going. I know I can hurt you, so I ain’t got to force anything. But it’s funny that people always think that to start fast is the way to beat me.

“I mean, look at my record. About 13 or 14 of my 17 knockouts I’ve had in the first few rounds. I just think if you’re going to start fast, I’m going to catch you, no problem. But I think that it’d be worse for them if you let me come forward.”

Importantly, Bentley has learned from his setbacks. Not once has he allowed a defeat to place a ceiling on his ambitions. Now, he has put himself in position to reach even higher levels and believes that he is where he is partly because of the lessons he has absorbed along the way. 

“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “I don’t think my losses are a bad thing, because I’m in a good position now. If my career wasn’t going anywhere and I was still fighting, then I’d be like, ‘Oh man.’ But it’s made me the fighter I am. It’s given me the credit that I’ve got today and it shows, you know, a loss ain’t the end of it. You can always come back.”

John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79