Denzel Bentley vs. Marcus Morrison | BT Sport - 16 September 2022

[Ruthless-RKO]

Press Release

British middleweight champion Denzel Bentley will defend his title against Marcus Morrison at York Hall on Friday September 16, live on BT Sport.

Also in action in Bethnal Green will be the ferocious Liverpool bantam Andrew Cain making a defence of his WBC International Silver title and Boxxer cruiserweight series winner Ellis Zorro will make his first appearance in Queensberry colours, taking on a tough operator in Dec Spelman.

Battersea man Bentley (16-1-1, 13 KOs) seized back his treasured Lonsdale belt when he beat the previously undefeated Linus Udofia back in May, having lost his title-holding status against Felix Cash just over a year before.

Bentley, 27, is now revved up and ready to go again against the 29-year-old Morrison (24-5, 16 KOs), who is back at middleweight after trying his luck at 168lbs in a challenge for the WBO International title held by Zach Parker in November of last year.

Morrison’s career reignited with the stunning knockout of Emanuele Blandamura in 2019 to win the WBC International Silver title and, two wins later, he accepted the challenge of taking on Chris Eubank jr and was defeated on points over 10 rounds.

Cain (10-0, 9 KOs) is quickly becoming the feared man of the bantam/super bantam range and his last two fights have resulted in brutal first round stoppages against statistically durable opponents in Pablo Ariel Gomez and Luis Moreno.

This will represent a second defence of his WBC International Silver title for the 27-year-old, who trains out of the Everton Red Triangle gym alongside Nick Ball and Brad Strand.

Zorro (14-0, 6 KOs), 29, kickstarted his cruiserweight mission by teaming up with the team at the Peacock Gym in Epping and, in May, threw his name into the hat for the Boxxer Series up in Manchester, leading to triumphs over James Farrell and the unbeaten pair of Jamie Smith and Ricky Reeves.

His tournament success resulted in being signed up by Frank W and his Queensberry journey begins over eight rounds against former English light heavyweight champion Spelman (18-5, 9 KOs), who has moved up to cruiserweight after taking on both Lyndon Arthur and Anthony Yarde at 175lbs.

Also featuring at York Hall is teenage prodigy Royston Barney-Smith (2-0) taking on Birmingham’s Paul Holt (8-14, 2 KOs) over six rounds in his third professional fight at super featherweight. Willy Hutchinson (14-1, 10 KOs) will be looking to continue his revival at light heavyweight after making a successful comeback in June with a third round stoppage of Karel Horejsek in Telford.

Hackney super featherweight Frank Arnold (9-0-1, 3 KOs) will fight over eight rounds, Buckhurst Hill super bantam Adan Mohamed (4-0, 1 KO) and welterweight Khalid Ali (3-0, 2 KOs) from Brick Lane in London will fight in six contests, with Belvedere cruiserweight Arnold Obodai (1-0, 1 KO) and the debut-making middleweight Joel Kodua from Beckinham fighting in four-rounders.

“I am delighted to be putting on a show in London the week before all eyes will be trained on Manchester for the big Joyce-Parker heavyweight showdown,” said promoter Frank W.

“Denzel Bentley defending his British middleweight title against a dangerous challenger in Marcus Morrison is a proper York Hall scrap where entertainment is guaranteed. Denzel’s stock is on the up again and we were all proud of the way he reclaimed his belt against a good unbeaten opponent as the away fighter.

“Andrew Cain is quickly falling into the ‘must watch’ category of fighters and he is proving to be an incredible talent who is gaining fans all over the country, while I am also looking forward to launching the Queensberry career of our new cruiserweight Ellis Zorro and he will quickly be in meaningful title action if he can overcome the challenge of the tough Dec Spelman, who we know well from his previous appearances on our show.

“Our little superstar Royston Barney-Smith is definitely one to watch and I am also excited to be bringing Willy Hutchinson back towards title contention once again.”

Tickets for Bentley vs Morrison at York Hall on Friday, 16 September are on sale now exclusively from ticketmaster.co.uk.

[maverick23]

I’m torn on this one. On one hand I’m glad Bentley’s back out defending the British, on the other I think Morrison is quite an undeserving challenger.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I’m torn on this one. On one hand I’m glad Bentley’s back out defending the British, on the other I think Morrison is quite an undeserving challenger.

I thought you were torn between who you want to win.

With boxing now days, we just gotta accept what we get.

Even the British scene isn’t what it used to be in terms of fights. We still get some good ones, but I feel we used to get all the good domestic fights in the past.

[mickey1975]

I’m torn on this one. On one hand I’m glad Bentley’s back out defending the British, on the other I think Morrison is quite an undeserving challenger.

I thought you were torn between who you want to win.

With boxing now days, we just gotta accept what we get.

Even the British scene isn’t what it used to be in terms of fights. We still get some good ones, but I feel we used to get all the good domestic fights in the past.

We didn't. It was just the same.

[Cholo_cws]

I’m torn on this one. On one hand I’m glad Bentley’s back out defending the British, on the other I think Morrison is quite an undeserving challenger.

I thought you were torn between who you want to win.

With boxing now days, we just gotta accept what we get.

Even the British scene isn’t what it used to be in terms of fights. We still get some good ones, but I feel we used to get all the good domestic fights in the past.

We didn't. It was just the same.

Depends how far back we're going. A long, long time ago it was better but it's the worst it's ever been now.

[Manchester Hitman]

Reasonable fight as I don’t rate Bentley all that highly.

[brilo33]

i see a bentley ko win here mid rds

[Ruthless-RKO]

[CaptainSpacerod]

Why’s Felix Cash not still British champion ?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Press Release | Elvis Zorro – Dec Spelman At York Hall On September 16

ELLIS ZORRO VIEWS his forthcoming fight with Dec Spelman as the perfect measure of his cruiserweight credentials at a higher level.

Boxxer tournament winner Zorro makes his Queensberry debut against Spelman at York Hall on September 16.

Even though Spelman has recently come up from light heavyweight, the Scunthorpe man possesses a strong pedigree and his will be seeking to further his own career at cruiser on the night, rather than provide a stepping stone for a championship hopeful.

For his part, Zorro does believe Spelman is his next step and that the quality of opponent vindicates his move to team up with allegedly following his competition success in Manchester that took him to 14-0 as a professional.

“This is the direction I want to go in,” said the 29-year-old. “I was pleased that Martin (trainer and manager, Bowers) and Frank have decided to put me in with such an opponent, rather than kind of give me an easy welcoming fight.

“After this one I will look to push on to titles asap, that is where I am going.

“You could have a tough international opponent and not get any credit for winning, but with this one I will get the credit. We know who he has fought, we know what he has done, how he has conducted himself in those fights, so I think it will be a test for me and a good fight.”

Zorro is not reading too much into Spelman’s jump in weight class, particularly since he has not fought at 175lbs since his Commonwealth title encounter with Lyndon Arthur in July 2020. Spelman subsequently took on Anthony Yarde weighing 180lbs before two fights nudging 200lbs.

“I did see an interview with him after the Arthur fight where he said he was drained at the weight. He is not going to be drained now, but it is a big jump up, although I am not a massive cruiserweight. I don’t know how tall he is, maybe 5ft 10″, while I am 6ft 1”.

“This will be his second or third fight at the weight now, so we will see. Other than his style, being a pressure fighter coming forward, I am not going to take too much from his fights at light heavyweight.

“He has fought (Shakan) Pitters and had the thing with Yarde and Arthur. He is a good fighter and I think he will come and try and push me back, put pressure on me, but I am ready for it.

“I am looking forward to it and stylistically it will be a good fight. Dec will try and drag me into ‘deep waters’ and he will know he has not got much of a chance if he tries to stand on the outside and box with me.

“So I think he will push the pace, try and stay on my chest, so the fans will be in for a good fight – which is what I need, with being on TV and on a allegedly show. I need to be in an engaging fight.”

Tickets for Bentley vs Morrison at York Hall on Friday, 16 September are on sale now, available exclusively from ticketmaster.co.uk.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Friday Night Fight Week!

[Manchester Hitman]

Let’s hope the spineless board don’t cancel this as well. I think this might be a good little dustup

[Oiky]

Not the best of fights is it, like a lot of them

Bentley should win this by KO Don't go too much on Bentley though personally

[Ruthless-RKO]

At least we have some boxing..

[Ruthless-RKO]

BACK TO BETHNAL GREEN FOR A FRIDAY NIGHT CRACKER

IN JUST OVER a week’s time we will be rocking up at what is traditionally known as the Manchester Arena for a Box Office event between Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker that will have all the bells and whistles on, as you would expect.

The WBO Interim world heavyweight title will be on the line and there will be some nine other significant title belts being fought for on the night.

We like to cover all the boxing bases here at Queensberry, so this Friday we are all ready for a good old fashioned British title bang-up at York Hall.

I would like to, at this point, put in writing and document our condolences to the Royal Family following the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Our gratitude will forever go to the Queen for her service to our nation and beyond.

Her Majesty was a champion of our country and a champion of sport, so the show will go ahead on Friday and we will all have the opportunity to pay our respects.

Even though we are in the midst of a sad passage of history for our country, we also must recognise the hard work and sacrifice made over a lengthy period of time by our boxers and their opponents to deliver our entertainment, while providing for themselves and their families.

The setting is very different from AO Arena in Manchester, but the old venue in Bethnal Green has a charm all of its own and, while the lights might not be quite so sparkly on the Old Ford Road, the fights will mean just as much to the boxers and their supporters.

The British title duel comes at middleweight, where our champion Denzel Bentley makes a first defence of his title against Marcus Morrison.

I was very proud of Denzel back in May when he went in as the away fighter to reclaim his belt after the disappointment of losing out against Felix Cash just over a year previously.

Unfortunately, we lost out in a competitive purse bid for his fight against Linus Udofia and I can only put it down to the fact that I must have neglected to have my now customary slurp of Furocity prior to sending in our envelope to the board!

However, we needn’t have worried as Denzel made himself at home at 02 Indigo and overcame an excellent opponent to take back his prized bounty.

Tonight he defends against another tough proposition in Marcus, who is an experienced operator having come through a number of ups and downs along the way. Marcus, with Joe Gallagher in his corner, fancies the job and believes winning this belt is his destiny.

Joe, of course, was also in the corner of our now super middleweight champ Mark Heffron a few weeks back and Mark, being a former opponent of Denzel, will have been well placed to offer up a few tips.

If Denzel can overcome this tricky obstacle he can really push on towards European and world level. I know he fancies a shot at the new WBO champion Janibek at some point in the future, but there is no rush on that one and we wouldn’t want to thrust him into a world title fight just for the sake of it.

We want him to have the best possible chance of winning, which means picking up more experience against quality opposition.

We’ve got another cracking little fight on the card at York Hall, with cruiserweight competition winner Ellis Zorro having his first fight as a Queensberry fighter against Dec Spelman.

Being a bit of a late starter and now 29 years of age, Ellis is ready to crack on and Dec will offer the perfect test of his credentials at a higher level.

A former English champion at light heavyweight, we know Dec well from him appearing in big fights on three of our cards. Unfortunately for him, all three ended in defeat, but against a very high calibre of opponent in Shakan Pitters, Lyndon Arthur and Anthony Yarde.

He gave a very good account of himself in all three fights and, had the last two not been such big opportunities, he likely would have shifted up to cruiserweight before he did.

By his own admission, Ellis can be something of a cruising cruiser, so he will have to up the tempo against Dec, who will be on him right from the first bell.

We will learn a lot about Ellis in this fight and we’ll see if he is ready to start mixing with the more established British contenders. I believe he will be.

I won’t run through the whole card, but I am particularly looking forward to seeing our teenage super featherweight prodigy Royston Barney-Smith back in action.

The 18-year-old, who was an exceptional amateur and two-time European champion, is swapping north-west London for east of the capital after his first two fights as a pro took place at Wembley Arena and Wembley Stadium.

Unfortunately, injury denied him a July date, but he will be back on Friday determined to remind everyone why he is considered one of the country’s most elite prospects. He is also promising a KO or a stoppage, so we will see if he delivers.

A night of boxing at York Hall rarely fails to deliver.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Butti99]

Bentley points