Denzel Bentley v Janibek Alimkhanuly

[palmerq]

That's just weak from Andrade... Ugh, is he ven going to get a nice pay day somewhere else? Apart from Alvarez does he have any options..that guy really just let his career slide by, he's fairly good too.

[TIC]

lovely knockout by emiliano. he needs to tighten up that defense. only eighteen so plenty of time

[TIC]

denzel was tougher than i expected. zhanibek won almost every round & probably took denzel lightly coming in. demetrius don't like southpaws so i doubt he comes calling. maybe jaime might reconsider

[Dark Lord Al]

Good effort from a domestic plodder in Bentley, this really is a case of fighting for a belt rather than a World title.

[Master]

Denzel Bentley’s loss in Las Vegas on Saturday night was proof that we learn more about a boxer in defeat than we do in victory.

Bentley travelled to The Palms in the ancient fight city as a massive underdog to fight Janibek Alimkhanuly for the WBO middleweight title. It was meant to end in despair and pain.

The fight was offered, Bentley accepted, and he knew exactly why he had been selected; he was seen as an easy touch and another win for unbeaten Alimkhanuly on his path to stardom. Bob Arum, 90, proclaimed the Kazakh as the future of the division. There were signs in the ring on Saturday night, that Alimkhnanuly and his team took the prediction as gospel.

At the end of 12 rounds, the three judges on their scorecards correctly selected Alimkhanuly as the winner, still champion and now unbeaten in 13 fights. However, Bentley was fearless, took punches nobody had taken from Alimkhanuly, and fought with bravery, skill and desire to push the champion. Alimkhanuly has been knocking out opponents for fun.

Bentley traded punches, went to the body and lower at times, countered, slipped punches in behind the guard and did his best to show – as he had predicted – that Alimkhanuly is not quite boxing’s second coming just yet. Bentley surrendered the first four rounds, which was partially the correct tactic, but that left him a hard, hard task from round five.

In Alimkhanuly’s corner, the veteran trainer, strategist and versatile hired hand Buddy McGirt was worried from the end of the fifth. “You gotta push this guy back,” he implored through a translator. Bentley was landing at will when he came forward and let his hands go. Bentley was never pushed about by Alimkhanuly, never seriously hurt and never in awe. It has been suggested that Alimkhanuly intimidates his opponents before the first bell and then dominates them in the ring. Bentley laughed at that suggestion.

Bentley, who once fought for pride on the streets of south London wearing boxing gloves from a market stall, never really looked threatened. Bentley took punches flush on the chin, barely flinched, and never panicked. Alimkhanuly was taking a beating from McGirt between rounds and seemed a bit confused that Bentley had not rolled over. The final round was exceptional, a slugfest, and that is something nobody could have possibly predicted. In defeat, we all saw just how tough, smart, and brave Denzel Bentley is.

They will both, in theory, be better fighters going forward; Bentley, who is still the British middleweight champion, proved he can fight at a higher level; Alimkhanuly proved that he still has a considerable distance to go before his name is carved on any of boxing’s thrones. It will not get any easier for either of the pair; Alimkhanuly will now have a target on his back. At The Palms, Bentley closed the gap, and in defeat – he was crushed – arrived on the world scene.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxi...18199887cc70d3

[Master]

Bentley should be proud of his performance he gave against Alimkhanuly. He rightly started cautiously for the first 4 rounds and slowly opened up as he gained confidence in the contest.

Bentley took the fight to Alimkhanuly and nearly got himself knocked out in the last round to show that the undefeated champion is on another level to Denzil

Hope Bentley gets big fights from this outing and maybe even another world title shot now that he has got the taste of this standard.

[TIC]

i think denzel could beat jaime munguia