Aaron McKenna and Denzel Bentley have a deal in place for an IBF/WBO middleweight title unification in late 2026, sources tell @ringmagazine. Sides waiting for sanctioning from the IBF and WBO. Should be an action-packed fight in a suddenly rejuvenated 160-pound division.
Aaron McKenna vs. Denzel Bentley | Unification - Who wins?
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Re: Aaron McKenna vs. Denzel Bentley | Unification - Who wins?
McKenna, Bentley agree to 160-pound title unification bout
Aaron McKenna and Denzel Bentley apparently will make the first defense of their middleweight titles against each other.
The Ring’s Mike Coppinger reported on Thursday that an agreement is in place for a title unification bout between McKenna and Bentley late this year. McKenna (21-0, 10 KOs) holds the IBF title, Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KOs) the WBO belt.
Coppinger wrote that the final obstacle to a final deal is approval from the sanctioning bodies.
McKenna, of Monaghan, Ireland, won the then-vacant IBF title with a unanimous decision over Etinosa Oliha on August 8 in Ireland. McKenna, 27, is The Ring’s No. 3-ranked fighter at 160 pounds.
Bentley, 31, was elevated to full champion in late July after former WBO titleholder Janibek Alimkhanuly vacated the title to move up to 168 pounds. The London native won the interim WBO title with a seventh-round stoppage of Endry Saavedra on April 4 in his hometown.
Aaron McKenna and Denzel Bentley apparently will make the first defense of their middleweight titles against each other.
The Ring’s Mike Coppinger reported on Thursday that an agreement is in place for a title unification bout between McKenna and Bentley late this year. McKenna (21-0, 10 KOs) holds the IBF title, Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KOs) the WBO belt.
Coppinger wrote that the final obstacle to a final deal is approval from the sanctioning bodies.
McKenna, of Monaghan, Ireland, won the then-vacant IBF title with a unanimous decision over Etinosa Oliha on August 8 in Ireland. McKenna, 27, is The Ring’s No. 3-ranked fighter at 160 pounds.
Bentley, 31, was elevated to full champion in late July after former WBO titleholder Janibek Alimkhanuly vacated the title to move up to 168 pounds. The London native won the interim WBO title with a seventh-round stoppage of Endry Saavedra on April 4 in his hometown.
Re: Aaron McKenna vs. Denzel Bentley | Unification - Who wins?
What a pathetic division. But good for them
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Re: Aaron McKenna vs. Denzel Bentley | Unification - Who wins?
WBO establishes Yoenli Hernandez as middleweight mandatory to Denzel Bentley
The WBO championship committee Friday confirmed Cuba’s Yoenli Hernandez as the mandatory contender to their new middleweight champion Denzel Bentley of England.
Rejecting numerous requests and objections by Bentley’s team, the WBO decision was reportedly rooted in the fact that the sanctioning body’s middleweight mandatory defense was more than two years’ overdue – regardless of Bentley, 22-3-1 (18 KOs), gaining the belt this year.
Bentley, the WBO ruled, will have to set aside both his potential plans for a voluntary defense or a unification bout against new IBF middleweight champion Aaron McKenna and meet Hernandez if he intends to keep the belt.
Hernandez, 11-0 (9 KOs), is coming off an August 22 unanimous-decision victory over Argentina’s Francisco Daniel Veron in what stood as his most difficult bout yet.
The WBO championship committee Friday confirmed Cuba’s Yoenli Hernandez as the mandatory contender to their new middleweight champion Denzel Bentley of England.
Rejecting numerous requests and objections by Bentley’s team, the WBO decision was reportedly rooted in the fact that the sanctioning body’s middleweight mandatory defense was more than two years’ overdue – regardless of Bentley, 22-3-1 (18 KOs), gaining the belt this year.
Bentley, the WBO ruled, will have to set aside both his potential plans for a voluntary defense or a unification bout against new IBF middleweight champion Aaron McKenna and meet Hernandez if he intends to keep the belt.
Hernandez, 11-0 (9 KOs), is coming off an August 22 unanimous-decision victory over Argentina’s Francisco Daniel Veron in what stood as his most difficult bout yet.
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Re: Aaron McKenna vs. Denzel Bentley | Unification - Who wins?
I thought WBO may have allowed the unification..
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Re: Aaron McKenna vs. Denzel Bentley | Unification - Who wins?
WBO ORDERS BENTLEY-HERNANDEZ, MCKENNA UNIFICATION BLOCKED
The WBO is putting its foot down.
The sanctioning body has ordered Denzel Bentley, its middleweight champion, to face No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez.
As first reported by The Ring’s Mike Coppinger, Bentley and IBF champion Aaron McKenna had a deal in place for a unification bout that was set to take place later this year. However, the sanctioning body confirmed to The Ring that Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KOs) must face Hernandez (11-0, 9 KOs) first. The winner of their bout is free to face any champion they choose on any platform and any promotion, including Zuffa Boxing.
“The mandatory was long overdue,” Gustavo Olivieri President of the WBO told The Ring. “When Bentley was elevated to champion (in late July), Hernandez was designated mandatory. Bentley inherited the mandatory obligations of the division. Hernandez petitioned the enforcement and the committee reviewed the division’s activity and pending mandatory, thus ordering its enforcement. A determination was made prior to the proposed unification agreement.”
Both Bentley and Hernandez have 20 days to reach an agreement or a purse bid will be called. They also have 10 days to confirm in writing to the sanctioning body that they are ready, willing, and able to fight each other.
For Bentley, his middleweight reign began following a seventh-round stoppage win over Endry Saavedra for the interim title on April 4. Janibek Alimkhanuly, who held the full title but was suspended due to a positive PED test, moved up in weight, and Bentley was elevated.
Hernandez, a 29-year-old Cuban, now gets his shot at a world title. The Ring’s No. 2-ranked 160-pounder was last seen against Francisco Vernon on August 22. He eked out a close majority decision.
The WBO is putting its foot down.
The sanctioning body has ordered Denzel Bentley, its middleweight champion, to face No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez.
As first reported by The Ring’s Mike Coppinger, Bentley and IBF champion Aaron McKenna had a deal in place for a unification bout that was set to take place later this year. However, the sanctioning body confirmed to The Ring that Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KOs) must face Hernandez (11-0, 9 KOs) first. The winner of their bout is free to face any champion they choose on any platform and any promotion, including Zuffa Boxing.
“The mandatory was long overdue,” Gustavo Olivieri President of the WBO told The Ring. “When Bentley was elevated to champion (in late July), Hernandez was designated mandatory. Bentley inherited the mandatory obligations of the division. Hernandez petitioned the enforcement and the committee reviewed the division’s activity and pending mandatory, thus ordering its enforcement. A determination was made prior to the proposed unification agreement.”
Both Bentley and Hernandez have 20 days to reach an agreement or a purse bid will be called. They also have 10 days to confirm in writing to the sanctioning body that they are ready, willing, and able to fight each other.
For Bentley, his middleweight reign began following a seventh-round stoppage win over Endry Saavedra for the interim title on April 4. Janibek Alimkhanuly, who held the full title but was suspended due to a positive PED test, moved up in weight, and Bentley was elevated.
Hernandez, a 29-year-old Cuban, now gets his shot at a world title. The Ring’s No. 2-ranked 160-pounder was last seen against Francisco Vernon on August 22. He eked out a close majority decision.
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Re: Aaron McKenna vs. Denzel Bentley | Unification - Who wins?
WBO 160-pound champ Bentley eyeing November return
WBO middleweight champion Denzel Bentley is targeting a November return after admitting the initial stages of his world title reign have been “underwhelming."
The 31-year-old beat Endry Saavedra to claim the interim belt in April before was then upgraded to his position as full champion three months later.
But, as is often the case for boxers who do not win their first world title in the ring, Bentley says the achievement was not as fulfilling as he expected.
“I’ll be honest with you, I was driving back from a meeting with allegedly when my manager phoned me asking if I’d checked my emails,” Bentley tells The Ring.
“I hadn’t so he told me to pull over and have a look. I quickly parked up, loaded up my emails and just like that I was world champion. Fair enough.”
That particular email meant that Londoner Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KOs) had realized the dream which was first ignited when he stepped in the gym as a teenager. The only problem was, it didn’t quite feel like it.
“Of course it’s a great achievement and it’s the very pinnacle of the sport,” he added. “But when you get to that stage it’s underwhelming. I’m thinking ‘is that it?'
“I’ve worked my whole career to get to this point and I always felt like once you achieve it, the world is yours. But you get there and realize, I’ve got the world title but there is still more work to do.
“I don’t know, maybe once I have a defense and start moving forward again I’ll appreciate it more but as of now, I’m just living my life as I did before I was champion.
“Maybe it’s because I didn’t have that moment in the ring that it feels different. I saw it that the day I beat Saavedra I won the world title, but in reality that’s not what happened.”
Instead, Bentley had to make do with an interim title as the WBO decided what to do with their champion at the time, Janibek Alimkhanuly, who was serving a year-long suspension for testing positive for banned performance-enhancing drug meldonium.
The Kazakh had already been stripped of his IBF title but the WBO inexplicably decided to keep him as champion despite the suspension. Then, in July, it was confirmed that Alimkhanyly had relinquished the title which meant elevation for Bentley.
The new champion hoped to arrange an immediate unification with Ireland’s Aaron McKenna, who won that vacant IBF title via a decision victory over Etinosa Oliha on August 8. However, the WBO have since ordered Bentley to defend his title against mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez (11-0, 9 KOs), The Ring’s No. 2-rated middleweight.
“We’re still working on certain things,” Bentley said of his next outing. “I’m hoping to be out in November time but the latest would be December. I’m hoping that all works out.”
On a potential unification with McKenna, he added: “Whether that happens next or not, I don’t think so now, but I think at some point, especially next year, it can definitely happen. If he wants to clean up the division like he says he does then I have to be a fight for him.
“But now, being world champion, I need it to open more doors for me to just build my profile and take me onto bigger and better things, get those unifications and become a household name.”
WBO middleweight champion Denzel Bentley is targeting a November return after admitting the initial stages of his world title reign have been “underwhelming."
The 31-year-old beat Endry Saavedra to claim the interim belt in April before was then upgraded to his position as full champion three months later.
But, as is often the case for boxers who do not win their first world title in the ring, Bentley says the achievement was not as fulfilling as he expected.
“I’ll be honest with you, I was driving back from a meeting with allegedly when my manager phoned me asking if I’d checked my emails,” Bentley tells The Ring.
“I hadn’t so he told me to pull over and have a look. I quickly parked up, loaded up my emails and just like that I was world champion. Fair enough.”
That particular email meant that Londoner Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KOs) had realized the dream which was first ignited when he stepped in the gym as a teenager. The only problem was, it didn’t quite feel like it.
“Of course it’s a great achievement and it’s the very pinnacle of the sport,” he added. “But when you get to that stage it’s underwhelming. I’m thinking ‘is that it?'
“I’ve worked my whole career to get to this point and I always felt like once you achieve it, the world is yours. But you get there and realize, I’ve got the world title but there is still more work to do.
“I don’t know, maybe once I have a defense and start moving forward again I’ll appreciate it more but as of now, I’m just living my life as I did before I was champion.
“Maybe it’s because I didn’t have that moment in the ring that it feels different. I saw it that the day I beat Saavedra I won the world title, but in reality that’s not what happened.”
Instead, Bentley had to make do with an interim title as the WBO decided what to do with their champion at the time, Janibek Alimkhanuly, who was serving a year-long suspension for testing positive for banned performance-enhancing drug meldonium.
The Kazakh had already been stripped of his IBF title but the WBO inexplicably decided to keep him as champion despite the suspension. Then, in July, it was confirmed that Alimkhanyly had relinquished the title which meant elevation for Bentley.
The new champion hoped to arrange an immediate unification with Ireland’s Aaron McKenna, who won that vacant IBF title via a decision victory over Etinosa Oliha on August 8. However, the WBO have since ordered Bentley to defend his title against mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez (11-0, 9 KOs), The Ring’s No. 2-rated middleweight.
“We’re still working on certain things,” Bentley said of his next outing. “I’m hoping to be out in November time but the latest would be December. I’m hoping that all works out.”
On a potential unification with McKenna, he added: “Whether that happens next or not, I don’t think so now, but I think at some point, especially next year, it can definitely happen. If he wants to clean up the division like he says he does then I have to be a fight for him.
“But now, being world champion, I need it to open more doors for me to just build my profile and take me onto bigger and better things, get those unifications and become a household name.”