Denzel Bentley has revealed that a fight with Marcus Morrison could have happened in 2020, but was told by the now British middleweight title challenger to “wait for your turn”.
Bentley makes a first defense of his Lonsdale belt against the Manchester man on September 16 at York Hall, having regained his prized possession with victory over LInus Udofia in May.
When boxing came out of lockdown just over two years ago, Battersea’s Bentley was informed that Morrison was a potential opposition for his own comeback, which took place at BT Sport studios.
In the end, a match with Morrison did not come to fruition and the experienced Mick Hall was recruited to test Bentley.
Bentley then took to social media to ask why Morrison didn’t materialize.
“I was told in the first fight after the lockdown that I would possibly face Marcus Morrison and then a couple of weeks later he switched to Mick Hall,” the 27-year-old recalled.
“So I sent out a tweet saying ‘what happened to you? I thought we were meant to fight?’ and he came back with ‘wait your turn’. So I was like, okay, fair enough.
“Then at the end of that year I beat the Brits and he tweeted me asking for a chance so I told him to stay at the back of the line.
“So we kind of had a little fun with each other online and stuff.”
Good things come to those who wait and these two will soon be partying in Bethnal Green in a fight fans have been waiting to see.
“Yes they are, it’s someone who tries all the time and doesn’t really back down or go into their shell. He has risen to a good level and can hit.
“I haven’t been in a boring fight yet, so I guess any fight people are going to be in will be excited to see, to be honest.”
Morrison hails from the prolific Gallagher’s Gym in Bolton, where resident wrestling guru Joe Gallagher is nurturing a next generation of champions. Just a few weeks ago, Mark Heffron became British, Commonwealth and IBF Intercontinental Champion, while Natasha Jonas and Paul Butler are the proud owners of world title belts.
Bentley believes that blending into good company has a positive impact on a fighter and in part by not wanting to be left out of conversations.
“One hundred percent, if the gym is successful, you want to be on the same level as these guys,” he added. “When someone talks about your gym and top fighters, you want them to mention you in that light.
“You don’t want to be in the gym for years and years, then when they bring up the best, people leave you out. You are also a part of that and you will want to move on and start achieving things.”
Tickets for Bentley vs Morrison at York Hall on Friday 16th September are on sale now, available exclusively from ticketmaster.co.uk.
