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

[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.

[greynotsoold]

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

[Violent Demise]

He was a stay busy fight.

[Vendettos]

He was a stay busy fight.

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

[Violent Demise]

He was a stay busy fight.

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

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

[Vendettos]

He was a stay busy fight.

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

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

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.

[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.

[Vendettos]

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.

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.

[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.

[bradlee180]

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.

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

[jon09]

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.

[Spicoli]

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.

[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...

[Spicoli]

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...

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.

[Vendettos]

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.