Fearless and unflinching, Denzel Bentley arrives on boxing’s biggest stage despite defeat

Bentley impressed in his loss to rising star Janibek Alimkhanuly, while Natasha Jonas and Sunny Edwards were victorious in world title fights

Denzel Bentley (left) was outpointed by Janibek Alimkhanuly in Las Vegas (AP)

Denzel Bentley’s loss in Las Vegas on Saturday night was proof that we learn more about a boxer in defeat than we do in victory.

Bentley travelled to The Palms in the ancient fight city as a massive underdog to fight Janibek Alimkhanuly for the WBO middleweight title. It was meant to end in despair and pain.

The fight was offered, Bentley accepted, and he knew exactly why he had been selected; he was seen as an easy touch and another win for unbeaten Alimkhanuly on his path to stardom. Bob Arum, 90, proclaimed the Kazakh as the future of the division. There were signs in the ring on Saturday night, that Alimkhnanuly and his team took the prediction as gospel.

At the end of 12 rounds, the three judges on their scorecards correctly selected Alimkhanuly as the winner, still champion and now unbeaten in 13 fights. However, Bentley was fearless, took punches nobody had taken from Alimkhanuly, and fought with bravery, skill and desire to push the champion. Alimkhanuly has been knocking out opponents for fun.

Bentley traded punches, went to the body and lower at times, countered, slipped punches in behind the guard and did his best to show – as he had predicted – that Alimkhanuly is not quite boxing’s second coming just yet. Bentley surrendered the first four rounds, which was partially the correct tactic, but that left him a hard, hard task from round five.

In Alimkhanuly’s corner, the veteran trainer, strategist and versatile hired hand Buddy McGirt was worried from the end of the fifth. “You gotta push this guy back,” he implored through a translator. Bentley was landing at will when he came forward and let his hands go. Bentley was never pushed about by Alimkhanuly, never seriously hurt and never in awe. It has been suggested that Alimkhanuly intimidates his opponents before the first bell and then dominates them in the ring. Bentley laughed at that suggestion.

Bentley took Alimkhanuly’s best shots and continued to press forward (EPA)

Bentley, who once fought for pride on the streets of south London wearing boxing gloves from a market stall, never really looked threatened. Bentley took punches flush on the chin, barely flinched, and never panicked. Alimkhanuly was taking a beating from McGirt between rounds and seemed a bit confused that Bentley had not rolled over. The final round was exceptional, a slugfest, and that is something nobody could have possibly predicted. In defeat, we all saw just how tough, smart, and brave Denzel Bentley is.

They will both, in theory, be better fighters going forward; Bentley, who is still the British middleweight champion, proved he can fight at a higher level; Alimkhanuly proved that he still has a considerable distance to go before his name is carved on any of boxing’s thrones. It will not get any easier for either of the pair; Alimkhanuly will now have a target on his back. At The Palms, Bentley closed the gap, and in defeat – he was crushed – arrived on the world scene.

Also on Saturday night, in Manchester, Natasha Jonas won her third version of a world title when she beat Marie-Eve Dicaire to complete a truly amazing hat-trick of wins. No British man has ever completed a sequence of fights like this.

Jonas won the WBO title in February, added the WBC version in September, and took Dicaire’s IBF light-middle belt on Saturday. And, amazingly, this time last year, Jonas was fighting as a lightweight, a full 20 pounds lighter. Dicaire was head and shoulders above Jonas but was picked off and countered with ease.

Natasha Jonas claimed another world title with a decision win over Marie-Eve Dicaire (Action Images via Reuters)

The scores were 97-93, 98-92 and 100-90; the numbers will never tell the remarkable tale of how Jonas quit the sport after the 2012 Olympics, had a baby, watched the 2016 Olympics with gritted teeth and then returned to boxing on a mission to win a world title. It’s a Rocky tale – a tale of wonder and inspiration, and there is a chapter or two left yet.

The night before, in Sheffield, Sunny Edwards retained his IBF flyweight title for the third time when he was, at times, quite brilliant against Felix Alvarado. It was a flawless performance in many ways. Alvarado was a dangerous man and Edwards controlled the fight; Edwards won by two rounds on two cards and four on the third. It was not that close.

Sunny made his third defence of the year in a fight that, for a variety of reasons, slipped under the radar. Edwards, Jonas and Bentley helped make the weekend extraordinary for different reasons. In Las Vegas, the last minute in the final round of Bentley’s heroics will remain an endearing memory when the excesses, wealth and glory are tallied at the end of the year. And it has, by the way, been a ridiculous year for the old game.