Why did Michael Bentt get to fight The Duke for the world title?

Why the hell did Michael Bentt get this fight?

1. He only had 11 fights. (Not that bad considering Rigondeaux but Morrison was a 40 fight veteran)
2. He was knocked out in the first round of his first fight.
3. Of the 11 fights he had before he fought Morrison only 2 had winning records, Jerry Jones (5-1-0) who knocked him out and Mark Wills who was (14-10-1).
4. Morrison was on a 10 fight win streak (9 KOs), seems like a step backwards.


I was 8 so I don't know a great deal about him but did he really deserve to fight for a world title? Was he that good?

I have no problem with him winning it, that happens, but I question how much he deserved to be in the fight to begin with.

It's ashame that he had to retire after his next fight, because if he was that good we missed out.

The reason he got the fight is that he was expected to lose.

He was a stay busy fight.

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

He was a stay busy fight.

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He had 10 fights in 2 years, doesn't seem necessary!

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

He was a stay busy fight.

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He had 10 fights in 2 years, doesn't seem necessary!

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I have no idea why he took it either. The fight with Lennox Lewis was already signed. The loss cost him 7 million. Actually 5. Since he still ended up fighting Lewis a couple of years later for 2 million

wbo was fairly new at the time, had only been around a few years, and nobody considered that wbo title as a legitimate World title, nor did anyone view Tommy Morrison as a World Heavyweight Champion.

It was a bauble or trinket that might help lead to a shot at the real Heavyweight Championship held by Riddick Bowe at the time or maybe the other Title held by Lennox Lewis. Bowe and Holyfield were doing the trilogy at the time.

Bentt was supposed to be a tuneup fight to prepare Morrison for a shot against Lennox Lewis who held the Title that Bowe threw in the trash rather than fight Lennox.

The lineage for the real undisputed man-who-beat-the-man was:
Mike Tyson
James Buster Douglas
Evander Holyfield
Riddick Bowe
Evander Holyfield
Michael Moorer
George Foreman

Lennox Lewis had been there since the Bowe/Holyfield fights. Bowe had won the undisputed Title from Holyfield(WBA, WBC, IBF), but basically was scared to fight Lennox, and when WBC said Lennox was the mandatory challenger, Bowe threw the WBC Title in the trash rather than fight Lennox.

Lennox ultimately proved to be the best of them, but his recognition was a long time in coming as he kept fighting the best opponents available to him, and some top guys just wouldn't step in there with him.

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

He was a stay busy fight.

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He had 10 fights in 2 years, doesn't seem necessary!

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I have no idea why he took it either. The fight with Lennox Lewis was already signed. The loss cost him 7 million. Actually 5. Since he still ended up fighting Lewis a couple of years later for 2 million

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Agreed, pretty much everyone he fought had already been knocked out and had decent careers, lots of video on them and the knowledge that he can knock them out.

But Bentt, a pretty good amatuer (multiple medels), got knocked out in his debut, which you could put down to a bad start, but there couldn't have been much video on him because he fought noone, and I wonder of the Duke even trained.

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Originally Posted by bradlee180

wbo was fairly new at the time, had only been around a few years, and nobody considered that wbo title as a legitimate World title, nor did anyone view Tommy Morrison as a World Heavyweight Champion.

It was a bauble or trinket that might help lead to a shot at the real Heavyweight Championship held by Riddick Bowe at the time or maybe the other Title held by Lennox Lewis. Bowe and Holyfield were doing the trilogy at the time.

Bentt was supposed to be a tuneup fight to prepare Morrison for a shot against Lennox Lewis who held the Title that Bowe threw in the trash rather than fight Lennox.

The lineage for the real undisputed man-who-beat-the-man was:
Mike Tyson
James Buster Douglas
Evander Holyfield
Riddick Bowe
Evander Holyfield
Michael Moorer
George Foreman

Lennox Lewis had been there since the Bowe/Holyfield fights. Bowe had won the undisputed Title from Holyfield(WBA, WBC, IBF), but basically was scared to fight Lennox, and when WBC said Lennox was the mandatory challenger, Bowe threw the WBC Title in the trash rather than fight Lennox.

Lennox ultimately proved to be the best of them, but his recognition was a long time in coming as he kept fighting the best opponents available to him, and some top guys just wouldn't step in there with him.

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I knew the WBO had only recently became big but I didn't know it was actually during my lifetime, I though maybe 70s or so.

Morrison actually was a damn good fighter.

Nowadays, people act like he was getting knocked out all the time, but out of 52 fights, he only lost 3.

Of the 3 losses, 1 was to a prime Lennox Lewis, the best of the whole crop of heavies.
The Bennt loss was an anomaly where Morrison simply got caught by a 2nd tier fighter(3rd tier?).
The third loss was to a prime Merciless Ray Mercer, an Olympic Gold Medalist who had 2 very controversial decisions with a prime Holyfield and a prime Lennox Lewis. Both were very close fights.

With over a thousand licensed pro boxers worldwide, Morrison was world-class enough to rate Top 4, but not Top 3 which is the elite (Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe, Lennox).

Morrison also knocked the $#!t out of Razor Ruddock, Carl The Truth Williams, Pinklon Thomas, Joe Hipp, outboxed Big George Foreman(next fight Foreman KO'd Michael Moorer for the undisputed Champioship). They also don't know that Morrison beat the living hell out of Ray Mercer for the 1st 4 rds of that fight. Mercer had about the best chin in Boxing at the time.

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

I knew the WBO had only recently became big but I didn't know it was actually during my lifetime, I though maybe 70s or so.

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When Morrison won that wbo title, it only been in existence for maybe 3 years...

That is a great question because looking at his record he beat absolutely nobody to earn a shot at any title. I guess the Duke thought he was an easy mark. But for Bentt to even pop up on radar is interesting enough. And Bentt got beaten by Hide and vanished from boxing. Lucky lotto winner he was.

Morrison really took Bentt for granted and thought he'd plow him over. Bentt had decent exposure and a solid background but at the same time he was not fighting smart or at a high level. He looked vulnerable after Jones flattened him and didn't handle it well, lost focus big time. Mark wills opened a nasty cut on him and had him staggered badly twice in the 1st round of their fight, and landed more than a few solid wild left hooks on a stationary Bentt for a good 6 rounds. Coming off the Foreman win it wasn't a smart move by Morrison to seek it out. Bentt wasn't a bad fighter just green as a pro and unpolished but he seized his coming out in a huge way.

What made it more interesting is after Bentt pulled the big upset over Morrison, Bentt wasn't able to capitalize on the new found fame because he failed the physical for his next fight, he was found to be brain damaged...

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Originally Posted by bradlee180

What made it more interesting is after Bentt pulled the big upset over Morrison, Bentt wasn't able to capitalize on the new found fame because he failed the physical for his next fight, he was found to be brain damaged...

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In hindsight its crazy he was even deemed fit to fight no doubt. He 'passed the CTscan' but the feinting and dizzy spells in training were reported, as well as talk about being KO'd in sparring. Hide just obliterated him and had him resorting to biting! That shit was sad to watch.

Thanks guys, some good information in there.

Much appreciated.


So it seems like overall it was a deserved loss for the duke. He picked a green opponent who wasn't awful and took him lightly.

I don't think Bentt deserved a shot, but I guess the blame falls on Morrison for accepting the fight.

I really like Morrison but I have lost a tiny piece of respect for him for taking a fight against such an undeserving opponent, and for not taking him seriously enough, he deserved to lose.

I guess he was supposed to be a "sure thing" to set up his major payday vs Lennox Lewis, much like Buster Douglas was supposed to be the "sure thing" for Tyson to move into a superfight with Holyfield.

I've heard Bentt went onto big things in show buisness after his boxing career. Good for him. One of the great upsets in boxing, and one of the funniest moments when his fat cornerman jumped up to celebrate and exposed his ass.

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

Why the hell did Michael Bentt get this fight?

1. He only had 11 fights. (Not that bad considering Rigondeaux but Morrison was a 40 fight veteran)
2. He was knocked out in the first round of his first fight.
3. Of the 11 fights he had before he fought Morrison only 2 had winning records, Jerry Jones (5-1-0) who knocked him out and Mark Wills who was (14-10-1).
4. Morrison was on a 10 fight win streak (9 KOs), seems like a step backwards.


I was 8 so I don't know a great deal about him but did he really deserve to fight for a world title? Was he that good?

I have no problem with him winning it, that happens, but I question how much he deserved to be in the fight to begin with.

It's ashame that he had to retire after his next fight, because if he was that good we missed out.

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Fights like these happen all the time. Just that THIS time it was for a minor-recognized WBO belt (at the time), which made it easier to pull off. That AND the fact that Bentt won. With these kinds of throw-away fights, especially with a new titlist who wants to hold on to the title for more than 6 months, typically go the champ's way and the victories are pretty much slam dunk victories.

Can't call foul now that Bentt won. lololol... because if he had lost, no one would have blinked an eye.

The only other way you can call a foul was IF Bentt got seriously hurt- which he did, unfortunately, when he fought Herbie Hide a few months later and lost the WBO title. He never fought again after that.

But, looking back at that fight, Morrison hit Bentt and Bentt was fighting off of the ropes. Morrison got greedy, tried to open up and got caught. You could have legitimately called the fight after the first knock down, because Morrison was out cold like fridge in Alaska with the electricity off.

To Bentt's credit: He had a STELLAR amateur career. He was well above some of the guys in the division who had 30 plus fights at that time.

You see? This is what most analysts miss when it comes down to analyzing fights before hand- they miss the amateur pedigree, even though it means very little if the career wasn't against top quality amateurs- which leads to my next point, and more important of all, is the GYM WORK and quality of opposition in the amateurs and in the gym.

Guys are in the gym and sparring 30 rounds a week, at least, are semi-pro's before they turn pro.

Guys at Kronk or Wildcard have a very different training experience than guys from "Jessy's" down in Alabama. You see?

So, you have to be mindful of all of that. That's why some guys, even with minimum talent, can be a gym-rat and never go to any international competitions, rack up a 25 fight win record and be a champion within a few short years- sorta like how Oliver McCall beat Lewis the fist time out, and how Hasim Rahman was under-estimated when he fought Lewis for the first time.

Both McCall and Rahman were gym rats. Club fighters who put it out there in the gym against anyone who wanted to fight- amateurs, pro's, semi-pro's, etc...

To me, if I have a rock solid chin, with moderate punching ability and good stamina, I would take the rigors of being in the vicinity of sparring with the likes of top-pro's like Mayweather, Garcia, Broner, Paquiao, Marquez, etc.... on a daily basis at the Wildcard, Kronk or Mayweather gym, than to just have an amateur background of over 150 fights, been to the World Championships or the Olympics and other international amateur events and let that stand for itself.

The thing, going back to Bentt, he had BOTH... quality pro-training in the right environment and the amateur pedigree.
:cool:

History says Bentt won the fight , only to lose it in his next fight to a man who went on to become the GREATEST HW of all time. ( that was a quote from Hides promoter Barry Hearn , after the win ).

A bit off the mark there Barry ;D

Morrison was so chinny, I'm pretty sure he practised going to his knees whenever he was buzzed, and ironically the Bentt fight was stopped because of the three knockdown rule.

Hide bashed up Bentt outside the ring as well as in it ;D

Hide was a great power puncher, but seemed undersized when in there with real elite HW big men like Bowe

Many fighters use to take stay-busy fights between serious opponents. Tune-up fights.
Many top guys fought on regular network tv, no ppv. The fans got to see their favorite fighters showcasing their skills, and the fighter got to make a little extra cash with lower-ranked opponents between serious opponents.

There was no problem with it. It's just sometimes the mismatch resulted in an upset.
During Chavez' reign, he engaged in non-Title fights between Title defenses. Lower-ranked fighters who did not warrant a Title-shot got a payday out of it, and the chance of maybe pulling an upset.

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Originally Posted by Fenster

Hide bashed up Bentt outside the ring as well as in it ;D

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Oh yeah? I hadn't heard about that one. Or at least I don't remember it right now.

Took place at a club or something? Alcohol involved?

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Originally Posted by bradlee180

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Originally Posted by Fenster

Hide bashed up Bentt outside the ring as well as in it ;D

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Oh yeah? I hadn't heard about that one. Or at least I don't remember it right now.

Took place at a club or something? Alcohol involved?

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It happened outside of a Hotel in London. Bentt hit Hide in the head and Hide responded.

Bent got beat up by Hide during the pre-fight build up conference and I knew he would lose the fight too. Bent beat a careless Tommy and then lost it to a hungry fighter but Bent was damaged goods by then.

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

Why the hell did Michael Bentt get this fight?

1. He only had 11 fights. (Not that bad considering Rigondeaux but Morrison was a 40 fight veteran)
2. He was knocked out in the first round of his first fight.
3. Of the 11 fights he had before he fought Morrison only 2 had winning records, Jerry Jones (5-1-0) who knocked him out and Mark Wills who was (14-10-1).
4. Morrison was on a 10 fight win streak (9 KOs), seems like a step backwards.


I was 8 so I don't know a great deal about him but did he really deserve to fight for a world title? Was he that good?

I have no problem with him winning it, that happens, but I question how much he deserved to be in the fight to begin with.

It's ashame that he had to retire after his next fight, because if he was that good we missed out.

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Morrison/Bentt was brought in late-ish if I remember correctly to support the Toney bout, which was not selling.

Bentt was known, had a WBO ranking, but was considered a safe option, purely on his defeat, rather than his previous excellent amateur credentials.

Although I am being smart after the event, as watching it on SKY, I too thought Morrison was fighting a bum, and was only watching the bill as it was a chance to see Toney in his pomp in his battle with Whitaker over who was the best fighter in the world pound for pound.

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Originally Posted by Britkid

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

Why the hell did Michael Bentt get this fight?

1. He only had 11 fights. (Not that bad considering Rigondeaux but Morrison was a 40 fight veteran)
2. He was knocked out in the first round of his first fight.
3. Of the 11 fights he had before he fought Morrison only 2 had winning records, Jerry Jones (5-1-0) who knocked him out and Mark Wills who was (14-10-1).
4. Morrison was on a 10 fight win streak (9 KOs), seems like a step backwards.


I was 8 so I don't know a great deal about him but did he really deserve to fight for a world title? Was he that good?

I have no problem with him winning it, that happens, but I question how much he deserved to be in the fight to begin with.

It's ashame that he had to retire after his next fight, because if he was that good we missed out.

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Morrison/Bentt was brought in late-ish if I remember correctly to support the Toney bout, which was not selling.

Bentt was known, had a WBO ranking, but was considered a safe option, purely on his defeat, rather than his previous excellent amateur credentials.

Although I am being smart after the event, as watching it on SKY, I too thought Morrison was fighting a bum, and was only watching the bill as it was a chance to see Toney in his pomp in his battle with Whitaker over who was the best fighter in the world pound for pound.

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I watched it live too but who was Honey fighting on the card?

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Originally Posted by Master

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Originally Posted by Britkid

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

Why the hell did Michael Bentt get this fight?

1. He only had 11 fights. (Not that bad considering Rigondeaux but Morrison was a 40 fight veteran)
2. He was knocked out in the first round of his first fight.
3. Of the 11 fights he had before he fought Morrison only 2 had winning records, Jerry Jones (5-1-0) who knocked him out and Mark Wills who was (14-10-1).
4. Morrison was on a 10 fight win streak (9 KOs), seems like a step backwards.


I was 8 so I don't know a great deal about him but did he really deserve to fight for a world title? Was he that good?

I have no problem with him winning it, that happens, but I question how much he deserved to be in the fight to begin with.

It's ashame that he had to retire after his next fight, because if he was that good we missed out.

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Morrison/Bentt was brought in late-ish if I remember correctly to support the Toney bout, which was not selling.

Bentt was known, had a WBO ranking, but was considered a safe option, purely on his defeat, rather than his previous excellent amateur credentials.

Although I am being smart after the event, as watching it on SKY, I too thought Morrison was fighting a bum, and was only watching the bill as it was a chance to see Toney in his pomp in his battle with Whitaker over who was the best fighter in the world pound for pound.

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I watched it live too but who was Honey fighting on the card?

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Thornton I believe.. (it was I just checked). It was not a thriller. A shame really as Toney really turned it on in due course, notably against Charles Williams

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Originally Posted by Britkid

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

Why the hell did Michael Bentt get this fight?

1. He only had 11 fights. (Not that bad considering Rigondeaux but Morrison was a 40 fight veteran)
2. He was knocked out in the first round of his first fight.
3. Of the 11 fights he had before he fought Morrison only 2 had winning records, Jerry Jones (5-1-0) who knocked him out and Mark Wills who was (14-10-1).
4. Morrison was on a 10 fight win streak (9 KOs), seems like a step backwards.


I was 8 so I don't know a great deal about him but did he really deserve to fight for a world title? Was he that good?

I have no problem with him winning it, that happens, but I question how much he deserved to be in the fight to begin with.

It's ashame that he had to retire after his next fight, because if he was that good we missed out.

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Morrison/Bentt was brought in late-ish if I remember correctly to support the Toney bout, which was not selling.

Bentt was known, had a WBO ranking, but was considered a safe option, purely on his defeat, rather than his previous excellent amateur credentials.

Although I am being smart after the event, as watching it on SKY, I too thought Morrison was fighting a bum, and was only watching the bill as it was a chance to see Toney in his pomp in his battle with Whitaker over who was the best fighter in the world pound for pound.

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Pretty sure that was documented in Dark Trade? Toney is royally pissed off at the purse Morrison is getting, so at the press conference offers to fight Morrison instead, naturally calling him a bum and threatening to kill him. ;D

That may have sounded crazy at the time but who would have thought he would have beaten Holyfield at heavyweight?

Loved the book Dark Trade.

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Originally Posted by Master

That may have sounded crazy at the time but who would have thought he would have beaten Holyfield at heavyweight?

Loved the book Dark Trade.

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Crazy? He was calling out Lennox Lewis at that time too and saying he'd knock him out. He was super pissed about the purses heavyweights got compared with him. He was bringing his gun to London to shoot Benn and Eubank. Great stuff.

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Originally Posted by Fenster

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Originally Posted by Master

That may have sounded crazy at the time but who would have thought he would have beaten Holyfield at heavyweight?

Loved the book Dark Trade.

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Crazy? He was calling out Lennox Lewis at that time too and saying he'd knock him out. He was super pissed about the purses heavyweights got compared with him. He was bringing his gun to London to shoot Benn and Eubank. Great stuff.

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Yes that was the Johnathan Ross show eher he nearly made Eubanks cry and upset. Nigel Benn would have loved to have a tear up even if he would have lost.

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Originally Posted by Master

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Originally Posted by Fenster

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Originally Posted by Master

That may have sounded crazy at the time but who would have thought he would have beaten Holyfield at heavyweight?

Loved the book Dark Trade.

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Crazy? He was calling out Lennox Lewis at that time too and saying he'd knock him out. He was super pissed about the purses heavyweights got compared with him. He was bringing his gun to London to shoot Benn and Eubank. Great stuff.

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Yes that was the Johnathan Ross show eher he nearly made Eubanks cry and upset. Nigel Benn would have loved to have a tear up even if he would have lost.

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No it wasn't, it was from the book Dark Trade that you said you read. You're like a goldfish. ;D

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Originally Posted by Fenster

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Originally Posted by Master

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Originally Posted by Fenster

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Originally Posted by Master

That may have sounded crazy at the time but who would have thought he would have beaten Holyfield at heavyweight?

Loved the book Dark Trade.

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Crazy? He was calling out Lennox Lewis at that time too and saying he'd knock him out. He was super pissed about the purses heavyweights got compared with him. He was bringing his gun to London to shoot Benn and Eubank. Great stuff.

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Yes that was the Johnathan Ross show eher he nearly made Eubanks cry and upset. Nigel Benn would have loved to have a tear up even if he would have lost.

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No it wasn't, it was from the book Dark Trade that you said you read. You're like a goldfish. ;D

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I read a lot of books. You remember that quote from the book but I can remember he made Eubanks nearly cry on the show.

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Originally Posted by bradlee180

Morrison actually was a damn good fighter.

Nowadays, people act like he was getting knocked out all the time, but out of 52 fights, he only lost 3.

Of the 3 losses, 1 was to a prime Lennox Lewis, the best of the whole crop of heavies.
The Bennt loss was an anomaly where Morrison simply got caught by a 2nd tier fighter(3rd tier?).
The third loss was to a prime Merciless Ray Mercer, an Olympic Gold Medalist who had 2 very controversial decisions with a prime Holyfield and a prime Lennox Lewis. Both were very close fights.

With over a thousand licensed pro boxers worldwide, Morrison was world-class enough to rate Top 4, but not Top 3 which is the elite (Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe, Lennox).

Morrison also knocked the $#!t out of Razor Ruddock, Carl The Truth Williams, Pinklon Thomas, Joe Hipp, outboxed Big George Foreman(next fight Foreman KO'd Michael Moorer for the undisputed Champioship). They also don't know that Morrison beat the living hell out of Ray Mercer for the 1st 4 rds of that fight. Mercer had about the best chin in Boxing at the time.

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He was. But it's easy to forget that part after watching Mercer damn near remove Morrison's face from his head

Tommy morrison was a tough american heavyweight and truly loved the sport.

Wonder how a prime morrison would fit into todays batch of heavyweight fighters.

Read in Boxing Monthly that Ray Mercer knew Tommy was on steroids for their fight when he took his top off at the weigh in. He said he had black spots over his back and someone told him that Tommy would tire after 5 rounds.