In the Zuffa co-feature in London, recently stripped WBO middleweight champion Denzel Bentley came close to finishing Shane Mosley Jr, but eventually had to dig deep to turn back his opponent’s late charge. Bentley claimed a unanimous decision victory over ten competitive rounds. Bentley made the breakthrough in round two when a swift lead right hand found its mark and snapped back Mosley’s head. Then, in the next exchange, the Englishman decked Mosley with another rapid-fire right hand that forced the American to take a count for the first time in his career. Bentley put his foot on the gas in an attempt to finish the fight, but despite landing several big shots, Mosley managed to survive the onslaught before coming back strongly at the end of the round.

 

Despite being dropped and close to finished in round two, Mosley took the fight to Bentley and pushed the pace through the middle portion of the fight, while Bentley seemed content to drop his output, stay defensively tight, and look to connect with clean, explosive shots. By the sixth round, Bentley’s corner was starting to get concerned with their man, and delivered a clear instruction to pick up the pace, as Mosley continued to box more smoothly and score more consistently. Then, in the seventh, with Mosely seemingly cruising, Bentley came alive late in the round and connected with big shots, including a superb left uppercut that spun the American’s chin in the closing seconds.

 

As the fight entered round nine, Mosley seemed to sense that the decision win he predicted during fight week was within reach, and he kept the pressure on, looking to outwork Bentley. But the Englishman switched back and forth between stances and landed the heavier, cleaner shots off the back foot. And, after a closely contested final three minutes, the judges were called into action to determine the victor, with Bentley picking up the decision win with scores of 96-94, 96-93, 95-94.

 

With a hard-earned win in the bank, Bentley turned his attention to the future, as he made clear his desire to fight for championship gold once again. But then he teased a possible all-British fight with Conor Benn, who was an interested spectator at ringside. “The Destroyer’s” reaction suggested making that matchup would be very easy indeed.