Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Denzel Bentley | BT Sport - 12 November 2022

[margaret thatcher]

10-0 or 9-1 jani, denzel was a dear in headlights the first 5 rounds or so but is throwing more now. landed some solid shots though getting well beat.

[margaret thatcher]

going into the 12th now

[margaret thatcher]

denzel hurt in the 12th but fires back bravely and they trade at the bell..........should be wide jani decision but denzel did well considering expectations

[margaret thatcher]

118-110
116-112
116-112

jani

[veriton]

Denzel acquitted himself well there. He reminded me a bit of the Battersea Bomber Howard Eastman in the early rounds, too passive in a world title challenge, but he stepped it up in the middle rounds and finished strongly. Considering where he was after the Cash defeat, then this was really impressive.

[margaret thatcher]

first 4-5 rounds he was a dear in headlights, no confidence. i can see how cash just jumped on him with a blazing start. needs to work on his mental game so he's switched on and asserting himself from the start. he came into it more second half and even threw back hard after being hurt in the 12th, so maybe it will give him confidence going ahead

[maverick23]

Credit to Denzel. He did a lot better than I expected he would and made a fight of it.

I had Janibek a wide winner still.

[margaret thatcher]

i had it 118-110, was a bit surprised at the 116s tbh

[maverick23]

i thought the 116-112 were a bit generous tbh, i gave denzel 1 round and a share of another

I had it 118-110. Could I have given Bentley a share or one other but would struggle to have given him 4 rounds.

[DrDuke]

A mediocre fight, a mediocre performance of Alim. Another outmatched opponent appeared to be tougher than expected, so the Kazakh blew a bunch of later rounds instead of scoring another stoppage win. And this is "World championship". The MW division has been sucking for quite a while. There are few decent belt-holders, who keep defending their straps against the lesser opposition in lackluster fights.

[MightyWarrior]

I thought it was a terrific performance by Denzel, yes his confidence wasn’t great in the early rounds but no wonder, considering he was in with a highly rated puncher, and that devastating defeat with cash in the back of his mind. That defeat looks quite odd now, he showed a great chin last night, and Cash ain’t looked too hot since then ( hello Dr Usman? )

Anyway brave showing by Denzel, now one of my favourite fighters, I love to see a fighter come back from a bad defeat like that, to redemption. A Ghanaian warrior

[Ruthless-RKO]

CompuBox Stats

[wrighty]

Wow Denzel got stuck in. He should be proud of himself

[Ruthless-RKO]

[MightyWarrior]

[handsofstone]

118-110 Alimkhanuly, fair play to Bentley for going the distance I thought he'd get brushed aside before the halfway point but apart from getting hurt in the 12th he never looked like getting stopped and maybe with a bit more belief might've gave Alimkhanuly a real test

Alimkhanuly was pretty meh, measured Bentley up for that southpaw left hand which worked well tbf and pretty much won the rounds with that punch but he was far from the monster he's made out to be, Bentley showed he can be hit easily and his power maybe isn't all that much, still he won wide for me

[wrighty]

Chris Junior needs to stop fornicating about and challenge Janibek

[Ruthless-RKO]

I think the 116-112 was too close.

[DrDuke]

I think the 116-112 was too close.

The bottom for me. I'd say you can argue on rounds 8, 9, 10 and 11, while the rest were clearly in favor of the Kazakh.

[CaptainSpacerod]

Janibek clearly isn't the monster people were painting him to be but regardless what a splendid effort from Denzel particularly in that last round. Maybe with a little bit more self belief he'd have beaten him. If he fights that well does he beat Cash in a rematch ?

BT repeatedly made not particularly believable references to Martin Bowers being unable to attend as he was with another fighter in a different part of the world ....... is that just polite speak for Bowers wasn't allowed to enter the US as they refuse to admit people convicted of serious crimes ?

[Manchester Hitman]

Janibek clearly isn't the monster people were painting him to be but regardless what a splendid effort from Denzel particularly in that last round. Maybe with a little bit more self belief he'd have beaten him. If he fights that well does he beat Cash in a rematch ?

BT repeatedly made not particularly believable references to Martin Bowers being unable to attend as he was with another fighter in a different part of the world ....... is that just polite speak for Bowers wasn't allowed to enter the US as they refuse to admit people convicted of serious crimes ?

The Bowers’ boys were a bit naughty back in the day. Both are banned from the US.
I thought his corner did a nice job, but I do wonder if Martin was there he might have fired Denzel up abit quicker.

Denzel looks far more physically solid then he did against Cash. However after the Benn stuff, I do have to wonder what might have been inside Felix’s gas tank that night. I would definitely be up for a rematch at some point, but at the moment there is no point.

My plan for Denzel would be a nice British title defence in London. Then maybe have a crack at the European and all being, another crack at the WBO.

[wrighty]

Janibek clearly isn't the monster people were painting him to be but regardless what a splendid effort from Denzel particularly in that last round. Maybe with a little bit more self belief he'd have beaten him. If he fights that well does he beat Cash in a rematch ?

BT repeatedly made not particularly believable references to Martin Bowers being unable to attend as he was with another fighter in a different part of the world ....... is that just polite speak for Bowers wasn't allowed to enter the US as they refuse to admit people convicted of serious crimes ?

The Bowers’ boys were a bit naughty back in the day. Both are banned from the US.
I thought his corner did a nice job, but I do wonder if Martin was there he might have fired Denzel up abit quicker.

Denzel looks far more physically solid then he did against Cash. However after the Benn stuff, I do have to wonder what might have been inside Felix’s gas tank that night. I would definitely be up for a rematch at some point, but at the moment there is no point.

My plan for Denzel would be a nice British title defence in London. Then maybe have a crack at the European and all being, another crack at the WBO.

I hate to say it but Cash looked juiced to the fornicating gills! That fight being cancelled with Coyle was odd too. They could have just made that the main?

[wrighty]

Wouldn't mind seeing Denzel defend his British belt then maybe have a fight with Sheeraz. He could get a nice pay packet for that. Maybe even Conor Coyle!

[stujones]

Crazy how little coverage a British fighter fighting for the World Middleweight title has got. This is the belt Benn and Eubank fought in front of nearly 20 million people.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Crazy how little coverage a British fighter fighting for the World Middleweight title has got. This is the belt Benn and Eubank fought in front of nearly 20 million people.

30 years ago is a long time..

A lot of boxers now days, they make it hard for us fans to care about then.