Denzel Bentley says boxing helped him escape the violence around his former council estate in Battersea, where he was chased and shot at as a teenager and has lost many friends to knife and gun crime. The 31-year-old has spoken about that trauma while confronting a fresh setback in his career: the WBO has stripped him of its middleweight title after refusing permission for him to defend it against Shane Mosley Jr.

Bentley said the sanctioning body rejected his appeal to face Mosley Jr instead of mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernández. He described himself as disappointed and said he did not feel he had been treated like a champion. Still, he intends to fight Mosley Jr, saying the decision has not changed his approach to the bout.

The fighter recalled that one of his friends was stabbed to death before his November 2023 loss to Nathan Heaney. He said the friend was killed during an attempted watch robbery by someone he knew. Bentley also described losing a friend to knife crime when he was 12 and said another friend was shot the night before his May 2024 fight against Danny Dignum. He said the deaths had become difficult to count, and that he felt conflicted celebrating a victory while a friend’s family was grieving.

Bentley said the danger made him fearful, but he was often at the gym when trouble unfolded. “Boxing definitely saved me,” he said, adding that he wants his son to grow up away from the environment he experienced. He still visits his mother on the estate and hopes to move her, while acknowledging that he has the means to seek a different life.

He began boxing at 17, after stopping football and leaving a sports science course at university to see whether he could become a professional. His amateur trainer, Steve Hiser, encouraged him to believe he could become a champion. Bentley later won the British middleweight title, but Hiser died in 2023.

Bentley’s career has also been marked by long periods without fights or income. After beating Brad Pauls in December 2024 to regain the British title and become European champion, he went 16 months without a bout. He said he received no pay during that period, sought work and considered Amazon delivery shifts, but found no vacancies near him. An advance from former promoter Frank Warren helped him manage expenses, and Bentley said he plans to repay it after his next fight.

He returned to the ring seven months ago, stopping Endry Saavedra to win the WBO interim title. In July, he became the organisation’s world champion after Janibek Alimkhanuly vacated the belt. Bentley later left Queensberry Promotions and signed a multi-fight deal with Zuffa Boxing, saying he wanted a long-term agreement with better pay and to feel appreciated.

The WBO’s preferred plan was for Bentley to take a voluntary defence before meeting Hernández, but the dispute over his proposed bout with Mosley Jr ended with the title being taken away. Bentley said he now feels relief that the dispute is over and wants to move forward toward another world title. He described Mosley Jr as a tough and awkward opponent and said he was ready to put on a show in their scheduled fight at London’s Copper Box Arena.

Sources: The Guardian Sport.