Denzel Bentley reveals his wish list and explains why Janibek Alimkhanuly has plateaued

Former British middleweight champion and world title challenger Denzel Bentley is circling for another big fight.

Bentley has taken just two rounds to stop his last two opponents, the 16-1-1 Danny Dignum and 13-1 Derrick Osaze, and he is ranked No. 2 by the WBO, waiting to see if the fight will be made between champion Janibek Alimkhanuly and Hamzah Sheeraz, the No. 1 contender – and Bentley promotional stablemate. Purse bids for that bout have been called for November 4.

Bentley lost on the scorecards to Janibek in 2022 in Las Vegas, and it is a return with the now unified champion that the Londoner covets more than anything else.

“Janibek again, I’d like to go for that rematch,” Bentley told BoxingScene.

While Janibek is 16-0 (11 KOs) and has since added the IBF belt to the WBO crown he defended against Bentley, the Englishman does not feel the champion is an improving fighter.

“I don’t think he is,” Bentley added. “I think with Janibek, he’s done all his work and his whole tutelage as an amateur, and he’s as good as he’s ever going to be right now. I think he’s, what, 31 years old? He’s changed trainers a couple of times, he’s been inactive, tried to make the weight one time and passed out and I feel like he’s as good as he’s ever going to be now, and it’s how far his talent can take him, which it has. He probably can unify the division and become undisputed, but I don’t think he’s improving anymore. I think he is where he is and it’s how long he can stay fresh for and what he can do with his talent.”

Bentley does, however, rate Janibek as the world leader at 160. 

“I think it’s wide open, but I think you’ve got to give it to Janibek,” Bentley said. “Where he’s got two of the four belts, but I think it’s wide open, to be honest.”

Janibek added the IBF belt to his collection with a one-sided win over brave Andrei Mikhailovich earlier this month. 

Mikhailovich was dropped and hurt early, but fought hard to hang on until the ninth.

“Basically. I saw the last round, I tuned in when Mikailovich got stopped and then I went back to watch the highlights and, like everyone said, if the bell didn’t go in the second round, he probably could have got him out of there in the second round, but it was a good performance from Janibek,” said Bentley.

Bentley and Sheeraz are with promoter Frank Warren, and both fighters are now in pursuit of Janibek, and despite being ranked No. 1 and No. 2, Bentley does not feel Sheeraz is inclined to face him.

“I don’t think so. I don’t think Hamzah wants the fight, and I’m not saying that lightly,” Bentley explained. “We’ve been put to fight a few times, and I guess I can be grateful because the longer it takes, the bigger [a potential fight is] getting. I’ve taken a few losses, which has probably put the fight on hold at times, but it’s the easiest fight to get made. At one point, he was mandatory for my British and I was mandatory for his Commonwealth. It still didn’t get made. I’m mandatory for the EBU now. And obviously he’s been mandated to fight for the world title, so he’ll probably go for that. But I don’t think he’s in a rush to fight, if I’m honest, because that can get made easy.”

Warren has also called for Chris Eubank Jnr to fight his starlet, Sheeraz, but Bentley is waiting in the wings for that contest, too.

“One hundred per cent,” Bentley added, unable to disguise his enthusiasm for that fight. “I’ve spoken to Frank about that as well. He said that’s a fight he’d like to make for me as well. If he can’t make it for Hamzah, he’d like to make it for me. Either one of us, and Eubank’s probably the biggest name in the division in the UK, so that’s definitely a fight I’d like to take, and if I can beat Eubank, I’d be red hot in the division.”

Bentley is ready to fight now, and hopes for another outing before the end of the year. He’s helped Sam Gilley and Dan Azeez to prepare for their recent fights, sparring up to 12 rounds at a time, and, as he says: “I’m always in shape, I’m always in the gym. [Trainer] Martin [Bowers] doesn’t let us off the hook, we’re always training. I don’t have a date but I’m in the gym. I’m fit. I want to fight in December. I’m not sure what’s there, but I want to fight in December.”

Bentley is now 20-3-1 (17 KOs). He has at times looked excellent, and he gave a good account of himself against Janibek. But he was stopped by Felix Cash in 2021 and lost a majority decision to Nathan Heaney last year. He admits he is still learning and still a work in progress.

“I guess by the time I got to Janibek, I was a lot more experienced, with Cash I was a bit naïve,” Bentley recalled. “I won the British title off [Mark] Heffron the first time and I thought, ‘This is easy, cool. This is what it is. I’ll take Cash next and I’ll just go through Cash’.

“Then he hit me with the first shot and I thought, ‘Okay, he’s got a bit of power,’ and that’s what threw me off my game. Because then I started thinking about his power rather than boxing to my strengths and how I fight. Then I was over-reacting to his pressure thinking ‘Don’t get hit, don’t get hit’, instead of fighting my fight. And then the shot he caught me with, I didn’t see. But he was fresh at the time, in his prime – probably won’t be that good again – and he was in good shape. He prepared better for me than I did for him.”

And while it is tempting for Bentley to look ahead to Sheeraz, Janibek and Eubank, he wouldn’t mind going back to Cash.  

“One hundred per cent. I’ve always said that. I want that back down the line, but I’ve always said he needs to do well in his career and I need to do well in mine so when we meet it will be worth more, it will be bigger and it will be worth my while,” Bentley continued. “At this point in time, he’s been inactive, he’s coming off a loss – which ain’t a problem, because I’ve had a few myself, but he’s been inactive, he hasn’t looked his best and I don’t really feel like targeting him now he’s not at his best. I’m looking forward. I want to go for European and world honors and try and improve my status as a middleweight.”

Bentley also defended the quality of the middleweight ranks. The 160lbs weight class, often one of the glamor divisions, has received plenty of criticism in recent times, and Bentley has seen and felt it. He also feels it is unmerited, saying the skill level and fighters are there, but he admits the starpower is not. Because of that, he feels like the division is now being overlooked.

“It is, but people like to say that just because there’s no big names,” he explained. “They’re not appreciating the level of fighters that are in the division. Janibek’s a quality fighter. Carlos Adames is a quality fighter. Erislandy Lara’s a quality fighter, he’s just getting on. These guys [fans] just want big names and superstars to run the division, but being a superstar doesn’t mean that you can fight! All these guys in the division can fight. Hamzah can fight. I can fight. Do you know what I’m sayin’? All the guys in and around the weight can fight. Every fight’s a tough fight. There’s the Kazakh [Meiirim Nursultanov] fighting Adames in December, he’s a good fighter too. I can’t say his name, but he’s a good fighter. But it’s just there’s no names to carry them and sell out arenas. It’s a division with loads of talent but we need the name to put it on the map.”