MARK HEFFRON REVEALED that he would be more than open to a battle of the middleweight bangers against Denzel Bentley if there is a belt at stake.

Heffron moved to 24-1 on Saturday in Leeds with a first round stoppage of the usually durable Rui Manuel Pavanito and is now on a sequence of three straight victories since his only setback against Liam Williams in December of last year.

Bentley from Battersea is 11-0 and the heavy-handed 24-year-old is making quite a name for himself, blasting out Kelcie Ball inside a round last time out at the Royal Albert Hall in September.

Both men carry formidable punching power, with Heffron having stopped 18 of his 24 losing opponents, with Bentley’s KO-ratio standing at nine out of 11.

It would have all the makings of a fan-friendly war where something would have to give and Bentley, 24, has previously expressed willingness on his part to engage in what would be a mighty collision.

The 27-year-old Heffron shares those sentiments.

“Yeah I’ve seen that in an interview with him,” said the Oldham man. “He is a good operator and a good fighter – and it would be a top fight. I would definitely do it if there is a good title on the line and it makes sense. I would fight anybody.

“I want titles and want something that means something,” added Heffron who, ideally, would relish another crack at the British title.

Heffron secured himself mandatory position for the middleweight edition of the Lonsdale belt and was initially lined up to fight the then champion Jason Welborn in December. Welborn then relinquished the title and Heffron subsequently accepted an invitation to fight the already world-level Williams for the vacant title.

He has no regrets over taking such a big step up, even though it resulted in a punishing 10th round stoppage.

“I am not in this game to avoid anyone and when the fight got offered to me, I took it. I couldn’t not take the fight. You learn a lot from your mistakes and I learned a lot from that fight. I am ready to move on now.”

Top Heavyweight prospect Daniel DuBois was dominant in stopping previously undefeated Ebenezer Tetteh in round one of a scheduled 10-round heavyweight bout at Royal Albert Hall in London.

DuBois scored two hard knockdowns with the referee stopping the bout when Tetteh got to his feet after the 2nd time he was on the canvas at 2:10.

DuBois is 13-0 with 12 knockouts. Tetteh is 19-1.

Archie Sharp scored a vicious knockout over Declan Geraghty in round four of their scheduled ten round super featherweight bout.

Sharp landed a flush left hand to the head that sent Geraghty plummeting to the canvas with the back of his head hitting the deck at 2:14.

Sharp is now 17-0 with nine knockouts. Gerghty is 19-5.

Nicola Adams retained the WBO Flyweight title as she battled to a split draw with Maria Salinas.

Adams took a card 97-93; Salinas won a card 96-94, and a 3rd card was even at 95-95.

Adams is 5-0-1. Salinas is 21-7-4.

Denzel Bentley remained perfect by stopping Kelcie Ball in the 1st round of their scheduled six-round middleweight bout.

Bentley bludgeoned Ball for 72 seconds before the bout was mercifully waved off.

Bentley is 11-0 with nine knockouts. Ball is 10-2.

Dennis McCann remained undefeated by stopping Georgi Georgiev in round tao of the scheduled six-round bantamweight bout.

McCann dropped Georgiev twice in round one, and once in round two before Georgiev was stopped on his feet .

McCann is 4-0 wth three knockouts. Georgiev is 8-16-1.

Willy Hutchinson remained undefeated with a 2nd round stoppage over Boris Zankov in a light heavyweight bout.

The time was 2:15 for Hutchinson who is now 10-0 with seven knockouts. Zankov is 11-27-1.

Sam Noakes made a successful pro debut with a stoppage of Chris Adaway after round three of a scheduled four-round welterweight bout.

Noakes dominated the action as he landed hard shots on the ropes throughout the contest. round three, Noakes was bleeding from his left ear.

Noakes is 1-0 with one knockout. Adaway is 9-60-4.

ENZEL BENTLEY has called for a domestic showdown against middleweight rival Mark Heffron.

The Battersea banger is impressing with each fight and steps up in class at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Friday September 27 when he meets Midlander Kelcie Ball (10-1, 2KOs).

Bentley (10-0, 8KOs) is happy to be pushed towards Heffron even though his rival has had 24 fights, with the only setback coming against Liam Williams in a British title challenge.

Bentley, 24, said: “I would love the Heffron fight. As long as the promoters are happy let’s make it.

“It will be a great fight. We’d put on something great for the fans and it would test us both.

“Whoever comes out on top moves forward and the loser takes a step back and rebuilds. He is perhaps a level above but if the call came I would take it right now.

“There is no reason why it couldn’t happen. We’re both with Frank Warren and that is a fight I look forward to happening. My team wouldn’t say, ‘no’.

“Apart from Liam Williams the domestic division is wide open. I don’t even think Liam is a middleweight unless that is where he’s staying.

“If he goes back down to super-welterweight it’s wide open. I look at the list every day and I believe I can beat them all.”

But Bentley isn’t overlooking his next opponent Ball, who on paper will be his toughest test since turning professional in October 2017.

Bentley added: “It’s a step up and he has a good record. Physically I’m in shape, but mentally I know I’m fighting a tougher opponent.

“I will show that these guys with good records go the same way as everybody else. I don’t think he is a bad fighter, but nothing special.

“I want to work through the best in Britain,  but you can’t force people to fight. There is no reward for these guys because I’m just coming up.

“They are not avoiding me, just not considering me. When I do get my hands on a title a lot more will be calling my name.”

Daniel Dubois headlines the bill when he meets Ghana’s Ebenezer Tetteh for the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight crown and there will be a world title clash involving WBO flyweight champion Nicola Adams, live on BT Sport.

The card will also feature WBO European super-featherweight champion Archie Sharp who makes his second title defence against Dublin’s Declan Geraghty.

Middleweight banger Denzel Bentley, heavyweight Jonathan Palata, lightweight Mohammad Bilal Ali and precocious bantamweight talent Dennis McCann are also in action.

Exciting prospects Lewis Edmondson, Eithan James and Sam Noakes all make their professional debuts.

Tickets for the September 27 bill at the Royal Albert Hall are available to purchase from www.ticketmaster.co.uk and www.royalalberthall.com. Prices £40, £50, £75, £100, £150 Ringside.

There is an art to knocking out an opponent- and it seems that Battersea-boxer, Denzel Bentley has really got the knack of it.

The heavy-hitting middleweight searches for victory number ten on April 27th at The SSE Arena, Wembley and he will be hoping to add a ninth knockout to his professional resume.

There isn’t many boxers in the country that can boast a better knockout percentage than Bentley’s and loading up with your punches isn’t the way to approach landing the lethal blow.

“It’s more to do with timing and slowing down my work” explains the 24-year-old.

He continued; “Because, when I first came here [Peacock gym] I was an amateur and it was all about fast work and a high work rate because it’s only 3 rounds.

“So, when I came to the pro’s it was all about settling down, picking my shots more and timing just comes naturally better because you’re thinking about your work.”

Denzel will be in a six round contest when fighting on the undercard to stable-mate Daniel Dubois’ heavyweight bout against Richard Lartey and will be looking to take his undefeated record into double digits.

The Londoner will be hoping another victory on April 27th will be the gateway to fighting for the opportunity to claim a maiden title as a pro.

“The Southern Area title- I’ve been trying to chase that for a while now.

“The English title”- which is currently held by Reece Cartwright and will be defending the belt against Jack Cullen in May- “if the winner is free and I can jump in with one of them, I’d be more than happy to do that!

“In actual reality, I’ll fight for any title to be honest! 50/50 fights- I want them type of opponents.

“I don’t want to be hanging about fighting opponents I am meant to beat because I’m in here everyday training hard- sweating, putting my life into this, making sacrifices- so I don’t want to waste it on meaningless fights. I know you’ve got to build, but I want to get stuck in there.”

Daniel Dubois v Richard Lartey tops the bill at the SSE Arena, Wembley on April 27 on a card that also includes the Commonwealth super middleweight title fight between Lerrone Richards and Tommy Langford, as well as the Southern Area super middleweight title clash between Zak Chelli and Jimmy Smith. WBO European super flyweight champion Sunny Edwards and WBO European super featherweight champion Archie Sharp also feature.

Rangy Super Welterweight talent Hamzah Sheeraz will be back out after his impressive win over Rod Douglas Jnr. Hard hitting middleweight and Peacock gym product Denzel Bentley (9-0) and Belfast amateur middleweight star Caoimhin Agyarko will also return to action. There are Queensberry debuts for unbeaten welterweight Chris Kongo (10-0) and Sheffield middleweight Shakiel Thompson (2-0) – with Thompson being tipped by sparring partner Billy Joe Saunders as a star for the future. Ilford Super Middleweight Umar Sadiq (4-1) also returns as he looks to rebuild after his first career loss. Tunde Ajayi trained lightweight Bilal Ali (1-0) will have his second professional fight after making a successful start to his pro career, with Hoddesdon super lightweight Alfie Price set for his fifth.

Tickets will be priced as £40, £50, £75, £100 and £150 and are now ON SALE to purchase via Eventim, Ticketmaster, the SSE Arena website and AXS.com

FAST-RISING MIDDLEWEIGHT force Denzel Bentley could not hide his delight over signing promotional terms with Frank Warren and joining up with the Hall of Fame promoter’s richly talented team of champions and contenders.

The charismatic 24-year-old from Battersea has built up an 8-0 record to date, with seven of those wins coming via blistering KO.

His first two fights as a professional – under the stewardship of trainers Ray Ball and Martin Bowers – lasted a combined 88 seconds. His third, a revenge mission for an amateur reverse against Ashley Bailey-Dumetz – went into overtime by Bentley standards and was concluded in 98 seconds.

Aside from redoubtable journeyman Christian Hoskin Gomez, who last the full six rounds, none of his subsequent five fights have extended beyond the second round.

“I am excited about it,” said the Peacock Gym protégé. “I found out yesterday and I am so happy about it. It was good news for me when Martin came through with the contract, I signed it and now it is my time.

“It is time for me to get the exposure and to get my name really out there on the scene domestically.

“I am eight fights down the line, I have paid my dues and I have been waiting for an opportunity like this for a while. You need to be patient and this has come at the right time for me.

“I couldn’t ask for any more and I am happy with it,” added the 160-pounder, who believes he is ‘title-ready’ for his entry into the Frank Warren ranks.

“That is the good thing is well, I will be title-ready going onto that platform. I have got to perform going into these fights and then I feel my name will build quite nicely and we’ll get bigger fights.

“It’s good, I’ve had my early learning fights and I want to step up now, but it will be down to the team.”

Denzel will debut for his new team at the Royal Albert Hall on March 8.

“That is the best thing about it – the Royal Albert Hall! When we went there for the press conference I looked around the venue and was very happy to think I would be boxing there.”

You can follow Denzel’s boxing journey on his social media accounts.
Twitter – @2Sharp_d
Instagram – 2sharp_d

Also at the Royal Albert Hall, Nicola Adams OBE will look to make history and be the first female crowned World Champion at the venue as she challenges for the WBO World Flyweight Title against Arely Mucino on International Women’s Day. Daniel Dubois follows in the footsteps of British heavyweight greats to fight at the historic venue and takes on Razvan Cojanu in his tenth fight. Liam Williams makes a first defence of his British middleweight title against Joe Mullender, while Johnny Garton will defend his British Welterweight title against Chris Jenkins. Lucien Reid will fight Indi Sangha in what will be his toughest test to date, with GB Flyweight Harvey Horn, cruiserweight talent James Branch and middleweight banger Denzel Bentley also featuring.

Tickets are priced from £40 and are available to buy via RoyalAlbertHall.com
TICKETS START FROM £40
GRAND TIER: £100
LOGGIA: £100
SECOND TIER: £75