Shane Mosley Jr. made a good impression in his Zuffa Boxing debut. Now he wants to dethrone a former world champion to push himself towards a championship belt of his own. Matched against former interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk in May, Mosley showcased his full arsenal as he handled the Ukrainian’s high-pressure game, then dismantled him with crisp, accurate boxing en route to a sixth-round TKO stoppage. It was a world-class performance, and one that immediately thrust him into championship conversations in Zuffa Boxing’s middleweight division. “Oh man, it was incredible,” he admitted. “Obviously, it was a great win for me, a good feather in my cap, and I'm excited for this next one… I remember my family just being so proud. I remember everybody being so, so happy that I got the victory, and it was just incredible.”

 

Now Mosley faces England’s Denzel Bentley in a matchup he initially thought could be for the WBO version of the middleweight world title. However, the sanctioning body’s decision to strip Bentley of the title means there will be no belt on the line when they face off on Saturday night at the Copper Box Arena in London. “Technically speaking, this is a title fight, right?” he said. “Yes, he's not on paper a champion, but he was the WBO middleweight champion, and he got stripped before our fight… I still view him as a champion. Zuffa wanted me to fight a champion. I'm here. Everybody was willing. Just the sanctioning bodies, unfortunately, don't have it as a championship fight. So, with that being said, this to me is a championship fight. I think he's a great opponent. He's obviously worthy of being a champion, and I think it's going to be a good fight.” 

 

Bentley may have reached the middleweight summit to become a champion, but in terms of tangible physical advantages, they sit with Mosley, who stands two inches taller and, significantly with a five-inch edge in reach.

 

Mosley plans to put those advantages to good use, though when it came to specific tactics, he wisely chose to keep his cards close to his chest. “We definitely have been working on some stuff in the gym,” he hinted. “That's why I want everybody to come out and watch me put on a great performance on fight night.” 

 

Mosley will be fighting in enemy territory against London’s Bentley, but he said he wasn’t convinced there would be a major issue with crowd support going to his opponent. He even recounted an incident during fight week where he was spotted in the street by some British boxing fans. “I'm not sure, but everybody's been pleasant,” he said. “I feel like, for the most part, people are respectful, and I think that's going to carry on in the fight. But we'll see… The UK's been great. Actually, I’ve been stopped by random people, like ‘[Are you] Shane Mosley Jr?’ And they're not involved with Zuffa Boxing or anything like that. They're just random fans, and it's strange for me. I didn't know that my reach was this far, so it's cool.”

 

Victory over Bentley will only see that reach grow, as he looks to cement himself as a bona fide championship-level fighter, and send himself into 2027 with real momentum. “There's a lot of great opportunities out there,” he explained. “Champions – Zuffa has two of them – and there's other opportunities that we can also do outside of that, so there's a lot of great things. I believe that 2027 is going to be a great year for me.”