Denzel Bentley has called on the WBO to elevate him to full world championship status.
The Londoner won the WBO Interim middleweight title with a stoppage victory over Endry Saavedra at the O2 earlier this month.
Bentley is an Interim titlist as Zhanibek Alimkhanuly, their middleweight world champion, is serving a one-year suspension from the WBO for failing a drug test.
The Briton however thinks Alimkhanuly should be stripped of the world title as part of his penalty and that he should be the WBO’s middleweight champion now.
It’s especially frustrating for Bentley who went the distance with Alimkhanuly in a 2022 world title fight.
“I don’t think Janibek has any credibility or any sort of leg to stand on to hold that title,” Bentley told Sky Sports.
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“He hasn’t defended the WBO title against a mandatory opponent since he won it, which is about three or four years now and now he’s failed a PED test.”
Bentley continued: “Now I’ve won it [the Interim belt] and it’s mine. But on both our behalf, even with my opponent, in the future he [should be able to] say he’s fought for a world title, he’s a former world title challenger. He can’t say that and if he had won he could say that he’s a world champion. He can’t say that because of the decisions the WBO have made.
“The fighters in the division are all being punished for someone else’s actions. They should allow it to move on and allow there to be a new face and make him work his way back up.”
Bentley’s team are pressing for that title upgrade but he doesn’t know what the outcome will be.
“I just hope the WBO see what’s going on in the division and the people that are making noise. I feel like it’s also up to the media and the fans to make noise as well. We are not happy. We are the fans that contribute to the sport,” Bentley said.
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The best of the action from Janibek Alimkhanuly’s clash with Andrei Mikhailovich for the IBF middleweight title
“We’re not happy that someone that has failed a drug test is representing this sport as a champion. Maybe they can see it from that side.”
Bentley’s victory over Saavedra was an impressive performance. It was a tough battle but Bentley broke through to apply the finish in round seven.
“It feels good. I’d never boxed at the O2, that was my first time as well,” Bentley said. “Endry, he’s a tough, tough man. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves because he’s not a big name, he doesn’t shout about, he hasn’t really been seen much. But that’s an Olympian. I had limited amateur experience and I’ve just stopped an Olympian.
“He was strong physically, he could punch as well. So I knew I had to stay relaxed and bide my time and when I found the opening, I had to step on it! Because if he had recovered it would have been a long night.”
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Janibek Alimkhanuly punished Vincenzo Gualtieri before blasting a stoppage in the sixth round to unify the IBF and WBO middleweight titles
He explained: “I caught him at the end of the fourth and I thought I’ve got you and the next round he put a beating on me and I thought: ‘Alright cool, I can’t let him recover next time I hurt him.’
“I knew it was close,” Bentley added. “I just knew that he was getting more intense every round and I thought okay I’ve got to change something here because he’s going to take over.
“I felt him trying to change the momentum of the fight. So when I caught him with that shot I thought I can’t let him go now.”
More high-level fights now beckon for Bentley. “It would be an honour to be in a unification fight. If I can get one of those, it’ll be great,” the Londoner said.
“But it would also be an honour to just be upgraded officially to a world champion, even though I see myself as that now because of the circumstances. Just to be officially one, that would be great.”
