98 days after dismantling Danny Dignum to kickstart his 2024, two-time British middleweight champion Denzel Bentley produced another devastating stoppage – this time a perfectly-placed uppercut froze Derrick Osaze stiff as the world-level contender banked another quick night’s work at York Hall. Prior, Aloys Junior outboxed Oronzo Birardi over ten rounds to win his first pro titles.
Bentley back at it again with vicious finish
R2, 2:27 – Denzel Bentley bt. Derrick Osaze via KO, retains WBO international middleweight title with 17th career knockout
YORK HALL, LONDON — On a humid summer’s evening without a stoppage in the eight fights preceding his, Denzel Bentley reminded everyone of his world-level ambitions after a stunning knockout over one-time sparring partner Derrick Osaze.
This was a high-risk and low-reward bout for the 29-year-old considering his high standing with the WBO. Currently sitting at #2 in their 160lb rankings, he didn’t want to wait and risk being inactive at a time where his career is trending upwards again.
Having dismantled Danny Dignum in May, the two-time British middleweight champion had wiped the slate clean after a forgettable showing in Manchester saw him lose the highly-coveted Londsale belt to Stoke underdog Nathan Heaney.
Here, Osaze pressed the action early and consciously kept distance between them to a minimum. Overhand rights landed well for the challenger, as Bentley countered upon occasion behind his jab and threw a whipping right for good measure.
The first round was competitive and Bentley might’ve subconsciously been bracing himself to go the distance, but while Osaze looked composed when landing first in their exchanges, his aggressive approach signalled a rather sharp ending as the champion noticed tendencies whenever he would charge forward to cut off space.
More overhands came from the Nigerian, starting to chain together attacks and acquitting himself well – a five-punch combo came too – before being caught coming in and was frozen on the spot near his corner by a blistering right uppercut he didn’t see. Bentley dipped underneath, landed two more shots and it was all over.
An in-house Queensberry fight against Hamzah Sheeraz remains a possibility, though the 20-0 pro has business to complete against EBU European champion Tyler Denny next month. While it’s unclear what the immediate future holds for Denzel, he’ll be afforded the luxury of many options as he looks to close 2024 with a third fight.
Junior goes the distance, tames unbeaten Birardi
98-92, 97-93, 97-93: Aloys ‘Junior’ Youmbi bt. Oronzo Birardi, wins vacant IBO and WBO Continental cruiserweight titles
In the night’s chief support bout, rising 21-year-old cruiserweight prospect Aloys Junior began intently and showed variety in his work to pass his first real gutcheck as a pro while answering a few pressing questions many would’ve had for a fearsome puncher who, finally, went the distance against previously-unbeaten opposition.
Italian-born German national Oronzo Birardi looked the part, had better opponents on his resume by comparison and was armed with an 8-0 unbeaten record as his family and friends watched on ringside. Why wouldn’t he be confident of an upset?
Well, he didn’t do himself any favours after allowing Junior to command their early exchanges. Body work did its job, Birardi looked jittery and was often second best during their exchanges, meaning counterpunching was his best bet at success.
Junior was the sharper, if a little tense, but had to be mindful of Birardi’s counters whenever he looked to close the distance between them. Maintaining a high guard but with measured output, Birardi was allowed a chance to settle during a difficult-to-score second round after both landed single shots to encourage their corners.
Birardi connected on cleaner work in the third, appearing to stun Junior around the side of his head before following up with a slick combo teeing off unchallenged. How would the younger man respond to some stern adversity? Rather well after absorbing some stiff punishment as onlookers suggested he was starting to feel the pace.
York Hall resembled a cauldron of noise akin to international football fixtures as the Cameroon-themed noise in the upper tier continued, sensing their man needed an extra push to weather the storm. Birardi’s uppercuts were piercing through his guard before Junior replied with an overhand right as their exchanges were now scrappy.
Entering round five for the first time as a pro, Junior consciously made an effort to pace himself – working in bursts – and Birardi didn’t deter him from boxing this way by failing to sustain forward pressure during the 21-year-old’s rest periods nor being active enough for judges to consider, which ultimately proved his downfall.
Following the same pattern, Aloys asserted himself as the aggressor to start the sixth and while not always finding the target, persistently tried to chop down the proverbial tree in-front of him. More of the same came through seven rounds, Aloys diversifying his attacks and getting more drastic reactions that he’d got much earlier.
Without anything drastic, Birardi was suddenly fighting a losing battle as his mum’s orders fell on deaf ears and his tearful younger brother could barely watch. Then he was dropped in the eighth with an illegal punch downstairs, allowing Junior an opportunity to step on the accelerator after some brief respite.
Uppercuts, rights and lefts landing, the pair threw haymakers in the final ten seconds of said round after Birardi caught Junior with a shot he immediately wanted back.
He didn’t get it but the unbeaten hopeful moaned about excessive holding in the ninth, a well-intentioned complaint that had come three rounds too late to police.
Junior’s one-two punch combinations were good when he chained them together but wasn’t throwing it, nor the jab, often enough. Right on cue then, he finished with the round’s best punch before a strange final stanza unfolded – more rabbit punching and demonstrative actions than noteworthy attacks from either man, though only one could afford it as the scorecards justify his career-best victory.
Fail finds a way through
Light-middleweight prospect Ben Fail showcased his fan-friendly style in abundance en route to a 77-74 win after eight rounds vs. Omir Rodriguez. This had all the makings of a slobberknocker and was frequently frantic as the 35-fight veteran bloodied Fail’s nose with slick counters early before Fail floored the Panamanian.
You might’ve been thinking that second-round knockdown would spark the beginning of the end, Fail’s forward pressure and an excitable crowd combining to make things interesting before both showed bad habits the other would counter.
Buoyed by a stiff jab that peppered its target to good effect, the youngster was able to compose himself again after exchanging furiously up close and trading body punching, before Rodriguez fired back gamely in round three.
He could afford to showboat and smile as Rodriguez lost his footing in the fourth, but not for long. He was wobbled to the ropes later in that stanza, and it was a timely warning this wouldn’t be handed to him – the Northampton southpaw needed more.
The 27-year-old answered by outworked Rodriguez over the final four rounds, though showed defensive vulnerabilities that sharper opposition would’ve exploited.
One to watch?
Highly-rated amateur Frankie Wood excelled on his professional debut, showcasing skills and IQ that belied his babyface over four rounds against Engel Gomez.
The 20-year-old super-featherweight dug shots to the body early, his left hand lighting Gomez up and hurting the journeyman on several occasions.
Sharp swivels to maintain control and circling nicely as Gomez tried muddying work between them, Wood’s spiteful counterpunching and tight defence meant the debutant was always a few steps ahead on an evening he’ll remember forever.
Other results
A thudding second-round body shot after the referee said break threatened to prematurely stop proceedings, but light-middleweight Joshua Frankham stayed perfect as a pro with win #10 after whipping some mean power punches against a durable Artjom Spatar, who rode dangerous moments well in going the distance.
Unbeaten super-featherweight hopeful Billy Adams picked his punches carefully in the early going and that foreshadowed a deceptively impressive points win over Nicaragua’s Marvin Solano, who gave as good as he got during a fun six-round bout.
Cruiserweight prospect William Hamilton had journeyman Perry Howe buzzed upon occasion with whipping right hands and while he couldn’t secure a stoppage over six rounds, logged valuable experience en route to a 60-54 win, improving to 6-0.
Elsewhere on the undercard, there were also four-round debut victories for super-featherweight Mykyle Ahmed over Stephen Jackson and welterweight hopeful Mason Payne at John Henry Mosquera’s expense in the non-televised portion.
Picture source: Queensberry
Mo and Sports 