Denzel Bentley made a successful first defense of his second reign as British middleweight champion when he stopped Marcus Morrison in four wild rounds at London’s York Hall.
It was an all-out attack from both fighters while it lasted, but Bentley, who was rocked in the first round, had the faster hands and better range when he hammered Morrison into something of a bloody mess.
Bentley’s first reign as British champion ended when Felix Cash stopped him in his first defence, but the 27-year-old from south London is a fighter on the rise having raised his record to 17-1, 14 of his wins coming by way of stoppage. .
“He caught me in the neck [in the first] a little bit and I thought ‘oh, oh, my legs are gone,’ but I regrouped and let my shots go,” Bentley said. “When they were landing I knew they were hurting, I felt them in my knuckle.
“He has power, so my corner was telling me to keep my hands up. He had a good left hook and a good backhand, so he had to be careful.
“I am an animal. We knew it was going to come fast. We know that all the fighters that we are going to include will see Felix Cash as a model. I’ve grown so much. Before the cash loss, I felt like he was doing all he could, after losing, I realized he could do more. Because I know I can do more, I’m going to try to do even more than that.
“I want to keep going forward. The aspiration of every boxer is to be a world champion, I know that I cannot do that by doing the minimum.
“[Stopping him] It means I hit harder than Chris Eubank (who went 10 rounds with Morrison last year) and that would be a great fight in the future.”
The first hit off a fast start went to Morrison, as he landed a right hand to the side of Bentley’s head that seemed to shake Bentley enough that he reached out a hand to steady himself on the ropes. Morrison then piled in, but Bentley gained some space and scored with a jab and straight right. Morrison then missed with a big right hand, but Bentley landed a shorter right hand.
Morrison then attempted another right hand, but it was countered by a left hook that seemed to rock him, prompting Bentley to open up with a furious double-fist barrage. But Morrison covered up and then caught Bentley with a nice right hand that stopped him in his tracks.
Bentley began the second round in all-out attack mode and while Morrison, now bleeding from his nose, tried to match him, he was soon knocked back. Morrison fired again, but when Bentley landed a solid right hand, Morrison looked hurt. Still, he outplayed the attack and Morrison landed better late in the round.
The third round was a much quieter affair as they both stayed away, but in the closing seconds of the round, Bentley landed a big right hand, followed by a body shot, which Morrison indicated was low, before dropping Morrison against the ropes.
Bentley started fast again in the fourth round and when Morrison missed with a big left hook, he was punished with a series of short hooks that dropped him to the ropes. Morrison desperately tried to grab on, but Bentley wouldn’t let him, landing on his body and head.
He made it off the ropes, but a left hand to the body hurt Morrison again and sent him back as Bentley didn’t let up. He was taking cover when Morrison’s trainer Joe Gallagher came into the ring, forcing referee Kevin Parker to stop him at 2:00.
Morrison looked sad, but his face was a mask of blood, due to a cut over his right eye and a damaged nose, and he was taking a beating.
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was a boxing correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001 to 2019, covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights around the world. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications around the world since the 1980s.
