Denzel Bentley’s 102-day reign as WBO middleweight champion came to an abrupt finish this previous Friday when the WBO formally stripped him of his title.
Bentley was upgraded to full champion in July after former titleholder Janibek Alimkhanuly determined to proceed his profession at tremendous middleweight. Although the WBO initially granted Bentley a voluntary protection, it then accepted the petition of prime contender Yoenli Hernandez to have his necessary place immediately enforced.
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Bentley informed Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” Wednesday that he believes the method in which everything performed out was a direct consequence of his determination to depart Frank Warren’s Queensberry and change promotional allegiances to Zuffa Boxing.
“I can’t say for certain, but that’s what I think [that I was not allowed a voluntary defense because I left with Zuffa],” Bentley said. “That’s how I feel, because there was no other reason for that statement [WBO president Gustavo Olivieri] put out to be retracted.
“For [Olivieri] to say I get a voluntary like it’s all said and completed before the finish of the 12 months — which, I’m having a battle now, which could nicely be a voluntary protection. Shane Mosley Jr. is ranked No. 6 with the WBO, and that could’ve been a stable protection, and then we go next 12 months [against Hernandez].
“They’ve now taken the title, and the person who was mandatory in Hernandez, he can’t fight for it till next year anyway. You’ve just taken the title from me for no reason. I pay my sanctioning fee like everyone else, but in this instance I didn’t feel like I was treated like the champion.”
According to the WBO’s official decision, when the sanctioning physique elevated Bentley to full WBO champion on July 20, it expressly reserved the proper to decide whether Bentley would have to face a necessary or be allowed a voluntary protection first.
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Queensberry Promotions, Bentley’s earlier promoter, was planning a battle between Bentley and Liam Smith on Nov. 7 in Liverpool. The WBO accepted it as a voluntary protection, but when the bout finally did not materialize, and Bentley did not request permission for an different battle, the WBO enforced the necessary dedication.
Olivieri confirmed to Uncrowned that Bentley has now filed another appeal against the WBO’s handling of the matter and determination to strip him. Hernandez has also been ordered to face Australia’s Michael Zerafa for the now-vacant middleweight belt.
Considering Zuffa Boxing’s initial stance against boxing’s sanctioning our bodies at the starting of the 12 months, some thought the promoter would be happy not to have one of its fights related with the WBO, but Bentley would not believe that is the case.
“I’m not quite sure [what Zuffa thinks], because they told me that obviously they’d prefer me to have the title on the show — it helps the show,” Bentley said. “But in terms of them putting in any [legwork] — I think they may have spoken to the WBO, but I’m not quite sure because it was my team and my team management that were handling it.
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“But I do know this case came up before we signed, so there was nothing actually they could do until we confirmed that dedication and signed with them.”
Denzel Bentley lost his WBO title without fighting in a single title defense.
(Adam Davy – PA Images via Getty Images)
Bentley officially ended his seven-year relationship with Warren’s Queensberry just weeks after his upgrade to full champion. The British boxer believes he was not a priority at Queensberry and was displeased with how inactive he had been with the promotion.
Bentley hadn’t been formally under contract with Queensberry for the past few years. Instead, his manager, Martin Bowers, has been working on a handshake deal with the Warrens.
“My last battle [was] in April. Before that I was out for 16 months and I was very inactive, and clearly I wasn’t joyful with the circumstances and stuff around that,” Bentley said.
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“Your guess is as good as mine [as to why I didn’t fight for 16 months],” Bentley continued. “[I was] British and [WBO] European champion at the time. Because I just boxed the WBO No. 2 at the time [Brad Pauls in December 2024], we were promised that the winner of that battle goes on to battle for a world title. That wasn’t the case.
“But because of that promise, I was advised to vacate my titles, sit tight, and wait for the world title shot. In July [2025], it was announced that I have to fight an eliminator against the No. 2 again Endry Saavedra, who I boxed [in my last fight], and that took about a year or 16 months altogether to kind of get over the line.”
Bentley said that during his 16-month hiatus from the ring, he tried to become an Amazon supply driver to earn an income and help make ends meet. He was unable to do so, though, because there were no alternatives in his space.
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For all the speak of boxers being overpaid, it is a unhappy state of affairs that a No. 1 contender had to apply to become a supply driver because of his sustained inactivity and his income until that level in his profession hadn’t collected enough to stay comfortably without common fights.
“When I did win that [WBO interim title in April] and went back to the [Queensberry] office, there was still that bit of uncertainty,” Bentley said. “‘OK, you’ll be out on this date,’ and that wasn’t the date. Or, ‘You’re fighting over here in another city for such an amount of money,’ which I didn’t think was worth it as the champion going to defend in the challenger’s hometown and not getting the lion’s share of whatever the money might’ve been.
“Around that time was when I began considering, ‘You know, I’ve got to look somewhere else and strive and converse to other promoters, and see where I’m valued, and take myself over there and proceed my profession.”
Bentley spoke to a number of promoters regarding his future. Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom made Bentley — who is of Ghanaian descent — an offer to defend his title against Hernandez on Dec. 19 in Ghana, but Hearn’s offer was smaller than that of Zuffa Boxing’s, and Bentley says it arrived after he had already agreed on his Zuffa deal.
Bentley will debut for White’s promotion against Shane Mosley Jr. in the co-feature of Zuffa Boxing 12 on Saturday in London.
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