Battersea boxer Denzel Bentley offers no excuses for British title loss

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Denzel Bentley is determined to bounce back from losing his British middleweight title.

The 26-year-old from Battersea was stopped in the third round by Felix Cash on Saturday night at Bethnal Green’s York Hall.

It was Bentley’s first reverse in the pro ranks and drops his record to 14-1-1.

Bentley told iFL TV:“He did what he was meant to do, closing the space and letting his hands go – he got me out out of there. I never really got going. He was that little bit bigger, his shots were landing clean – I just didn’t get into the flow that I know I can get into.

“He caught me early in the first round, which threw me off a bit. That shook me but I recovered from that and caught him with some good shots.

“The second round I did alright. The third round the shot came from nowhere. I can’t sit here and make excuses.

“He has got heavy hands and he has got fast hands. A combination of both is pretty dangerous. I rate his power and his speed.

“I remember my corner saying after the second round that it was a better one from me but that I was still two [rounds] down. They said: ‘You need to brush up now, get your movement going and get to work’. I was confident that I was going to get him later down the line, but we didn’t get that far.

“My rise has been rapid and some may say it was rushed or too soon, but that’s how I wanted to go. It was all my decision.

“He was my mandatory and if I’d ducked it then I’d have been a coward. I took the fight and came up short.

“Knowing that I’ve still got a lot of time left in the game doesn’t make the loss any easier – it hurts. It’s the first time I’ve been stopped.

“I need to get back in the gym and back in the ring as soon as possible. I don’t want to be sat around dwelling on a loss like that.

“It is more than unlikely that I’ll get a rematch with Felix unless I start doing well in my career and we meet further down the line.”