New British middleweight champion Denzel Bentley is targeting the world scene at 160lbs.
‘2 Sharp’ became a two-time holder of the Lonsdale belt after beating Linus Udofia last Friday in a highly entertaining back and forth battle.
The 27-year-old Londoner who is 15th with the WBO is keen to bolster his ranking and will be a keen observer of Saturday’s interim title fight between Zhanibek Alimkhanuly and Danny Dignum.
“Dignum is a good fighter, and he has got a good chance if he believes in himself,” Bentley (16-1-1, 13 KOs) told Queensberry’s Dev Sahni.
“Zhanibek has got good power and is quite slick. He is beatable and whether Danny can do it or not we will find out this weekend. As much as me and Danny are cool, I would love the winner of that fight and it would make a great fight.
“Recently I have been thinking about fighting Zhanibek and I really like that fight. I would fancy my chances against him, but we will have to see the outcome of this next fight.
“I watch Zhanibek and I see a few things. He is good, by the way, but I just think I can beat him.
“We don’t know how good he is because he has fought people he is meant to bang out. You don’t know how good I am yet and you have only seen maybe 60 per cent of me so far.”
Another clash on the horizon may come against another Queensberry middleweight but Bentley says it will only make sense if a significant reward is up for grabs.
“I would welcome a challenge like Hamzah Sheeraz. It would be better for all parties, including promoters and fighters, for us to fight for, at least, an eliminator.
“I am sure he would welcome that fight as well. I am open to it but, for now, I’ve got to make sense of things. If we can fight in an eliminator with the winner fighting for a world title, I think that makes perfect sense.”