Hard-hitting Briton upgraded to full world champion.
The middleweight division is considered today to be one of boxing’s most lacking when it comes to competition. As a result, singling out the best in class is easier than in other weights.
Much like a decade or so ago, it was a Kazakhstani puncher who we could turn our heads to when asked who the best 160-pound fighter in the world is.
However, instead of Gennady Golovkin, it was Janibek Alimkhanuly.
Janibek embodied the very same spirit his countryman did before him. A vicious, marauding, heavy-handed menace, he had no time for those who were leagues below him and dispatched of them in short order, with those deemed as solid opposition being treated the same.
Throughout all of his fights, there is only one man who extended Janibek the full 12-round distance, who did not succumb to his furious fists, who came close to beating him.
That man is Denzel Bentley, a hard hitter from London who gave the feared champion a run for his money in an unsuccessful challenge for his WBO middleweight title.
But six fights on, following Janibek being banned for failing a drug test and Bentley stopping Endry Saavedra to become the WBO interim champion earlier this year, the Englishman can now officially call himself a world champion.
Indeed, the very same title he fought Janibek for now belongs to him, as was officially confirmed earlier today. Bentley was fully upgraded from interim status, which many were calling for after Janibek’s positive drug test.
Becoming Britain’s latest world champion, Bentley is the first fighter from the United Kingdom to hold a major title at middleweight since Billy Joe Saunders vacated his strap in 2018. His champion status was also of the WBO variety.
Right now, British fans can look forward to some terrific fights that their new champion will undoubtedly take part in.
Champ status: 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗠𝗘𝗗 👑 💥
Denzel Bentley is now OFFICIALLY WBO World Middleweight Champion 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/JDCUT0II8k
— Queensberry Promotions (@Queensberry) July 20, 2026
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