Bentley drops Mosley Jr and calls out Conor Benn, who replies: "Any day of the week"
Denzel Bentley put Shane Mosley Jr down in round two and won a unanimous decision at the Copper Box Arena, days after the WBO stripped him of its middleweight title.
Denzel Bentley beat Shane Mosley Jr by unanimous decision in the co-main event of Zuffa Boxing 12 at London's Copper Box Arena on Saturday night, then picked out Conor Benn at ringside as a possible next opponent. The judges scored the 10-round middleweight fight 96-94, 96-93 and 95-94 for Bentley.
Asked who he wanted next, Bentley mentioned Zuffa Boxing's IBF champion Aaron McKenna and WBC champion Carlos Adames before pointing at Benn. "I'd love a world title shot ... but if it's not one of the champions, there's another middleweight sat right there," he said. Benn replied: "Any day of the week." Both men are signed to Zuffa Boxing, and Benn was at ringside shouting "easy work".
Bentley dropped Mosley with a right hand in the second round, the first time the 35-year-old American had been down in his career. Mosley beat the count, survived Bentley's push for the finish and ended the round with success of his own.
Mosley then worked his way back into the fight, pushing the pace through the middle rounds while Bentley's output dropped. Bentley's corner urged him to pick up the pace before the sixth, and he landed a left uppercut late in the seventh. Mosley kept coming forward over the closing rounds, but Bentley held him off to take the decision.
"He came on strong in the third round and I thought, damn, I've woken the beast here," Bentley said afterwards.
The WBO stripped Bentley of its middleweight title on 30 October after he chose to fight Mosley rather than mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez. "I felt like I was fighting the whole of boxing because of a few decisions made recently after I signed with Zuffa," Bentley said.
In the main event, Cheavon Clarke stopped Chris Billam-Smith in the seventh round.
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