Battersea’s Bentley is aiming to become a three-time British middleweight champion
Battersea boxer Denzel Bentley could make history on December 7th if he becomes a three-time British middleweight champion
Two-time British champion and world title contender Denzel Bentley (20-3-1, 17KO) is preparing to make history when he challenges British middleweight champion Brad Pauls (19-1-1 11KO) on Saturday, December 7th, live on TNT Sports.
The middleweights clash in the main event at Wembley Arena on a packed Frank Warren-promoted show, and Bentley’s WBO International belt is also on the line, as well as the vacant European title.
Boxing legends Alan Minter, Ted “Kid” Lewis, and Herol Graham are all two-time British middleweight champions, but there’s only two names that have achieved this feat three times – Kevin Finnegan (1974, 1977, 1979) and Tony Sibson (1979, 1984, 1987).
And Bentley could add his name to this exclusive list if he is able to win back his Lonsdale belt from the new titleholder on the 341st day of the year.
Denzel “2Sharp” Bentley spoke exclusively to SportsBoom about the next fight and his dream of being remembered as a British boxing legend.
Leaving a Legacy
Denzel Bentley Ntim-Mensah only started boxing at 15, when he and his brother, Hayden, would fight with friends on their local Patmore council estate.He only stepped foot inside a boxing gym for the first time at around 17-years-old when a friend took him to Fisher ABC in London. From there, things moved on quickly. He had his first amateur fight aged 19, then, after another 16 bouts, he turned pro at 22 in 2017, just five years after lacing up the gloves for the first time.
The 29-year-old from Battersea confirmed, “I started boxing late. When I first started watching boxing, I was watching Floyd Mayweather and Adrien Broner, that’s the guys that kind of got me interested in the sport.
“Of course, as time goes on, you start watching British boxing, like Anthony Joshua, then you go back to the Chris Eubanks and the Nigel Benns.”
It was these British boxing legends that inspired Bentley all the way back then, and now he has inspirative ambitions to secure his own legacy in the sport.
“I want to be able to put on great fights for fans all over the world, but especially here in the UK, and I want to be remembered for the fights that I’ve had. I don’t necessarily want to be a celebrity, but I want to be remembered for the nights I’ve made for the public, and, if I can do that, then I’ve had a good career.
“In doing that, I know I need to win titles, become a world champion, and put on exciting nights and be able to fight anyone they put in front of me.
“If I’m 50-years-old one day and someone’s talking about, ‘Oh, remember Denzel Bentley vs so-and-so…’ and kids are watching me for inspiration and stuff; I’d like that.”
I’m still Denzel from the Block
Despite not wishing for fame, the likeable Londoner has a big reputation and growing presence around his local area anyway.
“Yeah, well because I’ve lived there all my life, so a lot of people in the area know me,” he explained. “You might get the by-passers that probably saw me as a street kid at one point, now looking at me and recognising me and saying, ‘Ah, I saw you on TV the other day. It’s so good to see you’re doing something positive and something good with yourself’, so I am getting recognised a lot more.
“The local shopkeepers obviously know me from being around all the time, but now they’re appreciating me for my talents and what I do, they’re always asking me about my next fight. They’re allowing me to put posters in the shop window, so people show me appreciation for what I’m doing.
“It’s nice to see. A lot of people want to show support, and it just brings a lot of positive energy around me, which I like.
“I might be standing outside my block, where I used to live, and I remember one time my friend came around to get a picture with me and my WBO International title; I went down for two seconds and ended up being out there for half-an-hour when people just kept coming past and saying ‘can I get a picture?’
“But its good to be appreciated in my area, whereas probably 10 years ago, before I started boxing, I was just seen as another street kid causing trouble, but now I’m being approached by the same people in the same area and it’s now ‘well done, congratulations’.
“It’s mad though, because where I’m living here, I don’t appreciate it, but then when people come and tell me what I’m doing and how it looks, that’s when I kind of step back and say, ‘oh yeah, ok, wow!’
“I’m living in the same area, so I feel like the same guy, I don’t feel like I’m a superstar.”
The European Title
Pauls and Bentley are vying for three titles in their fight – the British, European and WBO International middleweight titles.
The coveted European belt is a prize that Denz has had eye on for some time now and admits that it’s providing added motivation for him.
“Oh definitely,” he agreed, “because I haven’t won that belt. Now I get the chance to compete for the European, that’s the next step.
“I know I’m in a good position as the WBO #1 now, but that [European belt] puts me in all the governing body rankings, so if for some reason the [WBO world title] shot don’t come, then I know there’s another shot close by.
“I get to say I’m a three-time British champion and a European champion. It’s not like I’m fighting for the same belt that I’ve won twice already and going around in circles, it’s another extra carrot dangling in front of me.
“I tried to get it loads of times when Matteo Signani was the champion, but it just wasn’t happening for me, but now it’s come around full circle, so I’m excited to finally box for the European.”
Italian champion, Signani, had hold of the EBU belt for over four years between 2019-2023. It changed hands from Signani to Tyler Denny, then to Hamzah Sheeraz, and now the blue belt is currently vacant for Pauls and Bentley to contest.
The Story So Far
After reaching 13-0 within his first three years as a pro, the unbeaten middleweight prospect stopped the formidable Mark Heffron in four rounds to be crowned British champion during a lockdown show in November 2020 at the BT Sport TV studios in Stratford.
In his first defence, Bentley was stopped in round three by the hard-hitting Commonwealth champ, Felix Cash.
Although he found his first loss hard to take, he dusted himself off and came back to defeat three top British rivals in a row, sporting a combined record of 52-6, which included winning back his Lonsdale belt.
Despite a valiant challenge for the WBO World middleweight title in Las Vegas, he was outpointed by the reigning champion, Janibek Alimkhanuly, in 2022, who is still undefeated now and in possession of both the WBO and IBF world titles. A rematch with the Kazakh remains one of many targets on the Londoner’s hit list.
In a second defence of his British middleweight bauble, against the highly-rated Kieran Smith in April 2023, he needed just 45 seconds to retain his championship in his second reign. It was the seventh time that the British middleweight championship had been decided by a first-round knockout, but Bentley’s was the fastest recorded in history.
But in his third defence, disaster struck as he was relieved of his Lonsdale belt for a second time, on this occasion by Nathan Heaney, in November last year.
From Manchester to Cairo
Bentley’s bout with Heaney was on November 18, 2023, and his baby’s due date was shortly after that. However, his son turned up six weeks early in October and spent 10 days in intensive care.
Becoming a father for the first time was very worrying and complicated for Bentley, when his prematurely born son weighed just 3lbs.
When the relieved parents finally got him home, Denzel had to leave for fight week in Manchester, but spent the entire time distracted with concerns for his newborn.
Despite widely tipped to dominate Heaney, instead he was outpointed by the challenger and forced to return home to his family belt-less.
Thankfully, his son Cairo is now one-years-old and healthy and happy. The proud father reflected, “He was in intensive care for about 10 days and it was just gym-hospital-home. I stopped everything else, nothing else mattered.
“I genuinely did not want to be there [in Manchester], I wanted to be home with my son. But I had to crack on and I underestimated Nathan because I thought I could beat him on my worst day.”
Heaney was able to win 116-113 and 117-111 on two of the scorecards, with the third judge at ringside seeing it as a draw.
Brad Pauls vs Denzel Bentley
The Lonsdale belt changed hands again when Newquay’s Brad Pauls stopped the ‘Hitman’ Heaney in the 12th round of their rematch in the summer, after their first fight in March ended in a draw.
While Heaney and Pauls were engaged in their brace of bouts, Bentley rebuilt with two consecutive second-round stoppages over fellow Brits Danny Dignum (pictured below) and Derrick Osaze, which took his KO ratio up to a fearsome 85% and now sees him entering into his seventh British championship contest and third time as the challenger.
For Brad ‘The Newquay Bomb’ Pauls, who trains in Essex, this will be his third British championship contest of the year.
The Battersea boxer praised his forthcoming foe, “Brad Pauls is a good fighter, he’s only ever lost once. He was the Southern Area champion and now he’s British champion, so he’s done his fair share, he’s played his part in this game, he’s grafted away and managed to get the opportunity that’s put him in this position, so I can only respect that, and he’s not going to want to lose this position he’s in, so that’s what makes him dangerous.
“I’ve just got to make sure I’m in the form that I’ve been on in my last few fights. As much as he’s been on a good form, so have I. But I think there’s just more emphasis on his win against Heaney, because Heaney beat me.
“I think Brad Pauls is a good fighter, like, he’s 19-1, British champion, English champion, he’s played his part, so he deserves to be here. But I just got to make sure that I do what I need to so that I can move on.”
Bentley is the bookies favourite with odds of 5/6, while the champion Pauls is a slight underdog at 5/4. What’s interesting is that the odds for a draw are as low as 12/1, meaning that the fight is expected to be close enough to split the judges after it goes the full 12-round distance.
The A-Team
Bentley has been training with Martin Bowers his entire professional career, and has been signed to promoter Frank Warren for over five years, since 2019. He believes this longevity and stability has helped him to stay active and successful in the sport.
“To me, it means a lot. People are always complaining that there’s no loyalty in boxing, but I’ve found a home in boxing.
“Martin and Tony [Bowers] at the Peacock Gym welcomed me with open arms. They’re open to everyone, as long as you give it your best, they’re happy. They’re there every day, so all I can do is give my best and that’s how I pay him back. My way of paying him back is by doing the best I can, and that includes winning the world title.
“Because of Martin, I’m with Frank Warren, and he’s put a lot of trust and belief in me; put me in certain fights where I fell short, but we’re still going strong today.
“You see a lot of fighters take a loss and they go missing, but this time last year I lost to Heaney, and I’ve headlined fights already. Coming off a loss, I headlined two shows, and now I’m headlining my third one at the beginning of next month, so if that doesn’t show belief and loyalty then I don’t know what does.
“So, I’m happy where I am, I put a lot of effort into me, and I owe Martin a lot, but I’ve shown him loyalty and he’s given me his time, and I think we work well together as well. I’m happy that I found the Peacock Gym and I’ve stayed there my whole career.”
Bentley switched from Fisher ABC to the Peacock Gym in Canning Town halfway through his three-year-long amateur career. The Peacock Gym has since moved to Epping in Essex.
DID YOU KNOW? Promoter Frank Warren signed Denzel Bentley in 2019 after he took a fight on one of his shows at four hours notice – winning by first-round knockout – even though he had trained earlier that same morning and completed 10 rounds of sparring!
Zoned In
A consummate professional, Bentley asserted that his full attention is on his next fight and his next fight only. When asked what’s in the pipeline for 2025, he refused to look past his next assignment.
“I don’t know. I’ll be completely honest with you, I don’t know. I see the other day I was ranked no.1 with the WBO, but that ranking is only there until December 7th. After December 7th is whether we know if I keep that position or not, meaning that I’ve got to beat Brad.
“So, I don’t know what’s in the pipeline for 2025, I haven’t discussed anything for 2025 because 2024 isn’t over yet, so there’s still one more job to do and I’ve got to do that job convincingly and prove to myself that I deserve to be at that higher level.
“I can only do that by beating Brad on December 7th,” Bentley concluded.
Pauls vs Bentley will be broadcast live on TNT Sports, with the event starting from 4:30pm.
DID YOU KNOW? Denzel’s younger brother, Nathan Owusu, 25, is a chip off the old block, as he has just started competing as an amateur and has currently had two bouts, scoring first-round knockouts both times!
