A crossroads clash heads a card at York Hall this Saturday, as former world title challengers Denzel Bentley and Danny Dignum clash for the vacant WBO International middleweight title.
TNT Sports televise Bentley vs Dignum and Frank Warren’s Queensberry promote in Bethnal Green.
Bentley (18-3-1, 15 KOs) rose to prominence by winning the British title in 2020, forcing Mark Heffron to retire after four rounds, but he was then stopped in three when he challenged Felix Cash for the Commonwealth belt a year later.
After regaining the vacant British title in 2022, after one defence the 29-year-old received a world title shot against Janibek Alimkhanuly, and acquitted himself well before losing on the cards in Las Vegas in November of the same year.
The Battersea man returned to defend his Lonsdale Belt inside a minute, but came unstuck last November, dropping a majority decision to Nathan Heaney in Birmingham.
Dignum (16-1-1, 9 KOs) would challenge Alimkhanuly for the interim WBO belt six months before Bentley, and looked woefully out of his depth in a heavy second round defeat, and has rebuilt at a low level since, his last outing an eight round points win against Lukasz Maciec last April.
Prediction: Dignum showed fragility in his meeting with Alimkhanuly, while Bentley ran the Kazakh close, and I feel that’s a good yardstick to measure the two. I think Bentley can strike early, and stop Dignum before halfway.
Collins meets Grandelli
The talented Nathaniel Collins appears on the undercard, and the reigning British and Commonwealth featherweight champion goes for the European Silver title against Italy’s Francesco Grandelli.
Collins (14-0, 7 KOs) impressed on his Queensberry debut, wiping out Raza Hamza inside 25 seconds last August, but was tested to the limit by Zak Miller three months later, retaining his belts via majority decision.
Grandelli (18-2-2, 4 KOs) is a former EBU European Union champion, and won the silver title in December 2023, knocking out Stefan Voda in two rounds, a rare early win.
Prediction: Collins should be able to take the title with a wide win on the scorecards.
Garner faces Dillon
Ryan Garner (14-0, 8 KOs) is another to keep an eye on, and he should make a successful first defence of his WBC International super featherweight title with a points win against former British champion, Liam Dillon (13-1-1, 3 KOs).
Remaining Undercard
In eight rounders, Royston Barney-Smith (9-0, 5 KOs) makes a second appearance of 2024, and he can take a points win at super featherweight against Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira (6-8, 5 KOs) and Oronzo Birardi (7-0, 6 KOs) can win early once more against Milans Volkovs (10-2-2, 6 KOs) at cruiserweight.
Archie Sharp (24-0, 9 KOs) is also due to appear for the first time in 2024 with an eight round super featherweight assignment.
In six round action, Tommy Fletcher (7-0, 6 KOs) can take a win inside schedule at heavyweight against Viktar Chvarkou (5-12, 3 KOs), and super welterweight prospect Ben Fail (5-0, 4 KOs) can become the first to halt Ioan Alexandru Lutic (3-7, 3 KOs).
At welterweight, Khalid Ali (7-0, 3 KOs) can outscore John Henry Mosquera (5-11, 1 KO).
