Reason for British puncher’s upgrade to full champion revealed.
On Monday, British boxing received its latest world champion when Denzel Bentley was upgraded from WBO interim titleholder to full championship status.
In doing so, Bentley became the first British middleweight world champion since Billy Joe Saunders, who last held a 160-pound title in 2018.
Bentley became the interim champion when he defeated Endry Saavedra in April, and fans immediately called for him to be elevated to full WBO titleholder.
That’s because Janibek Alimkhanuly (who held the title) had been–and currently is still–serving a ban for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. But instead of being stripped of his title, it was ruled that he would defend it against Bentley once his ban was over.
This was met with much backlash from many in the boxing world, as they felt it was not a proper carrying out of justice and that it didn’t set a good example for other fighters in the sport.
This was in constrast to the IBF, who did strip Janibek, with their vacant middleweight strap set to be fought for between Aaron McKenna and Etinosa Oliha.
Nonetheless, the WBO’s reason for suddenly upgrading Bentley has been revealed, with an official statement from the governing body stating that Janibek voluntarily relinquished his title due to his wish to move up to super-middleweight.
As far as Bentley himself is concerned, the power-punching Londoner has had his mandatory challenger set as undefeated Cuban contender Yoenli Hernandez, and there are many other good fights that could be made between him and other fighters in the division.
Official Resolution issued.
The WBO World Championship Committee has officially elevated Denzel Bentley to WBO Middleweight World Champion following Zhanibek Alimkhanuly’s voluntary relinquishment of the title.#BeltsMatter pic.twitter.com/BSFVFwgYiX
— WBO (@WorldBoxingOrg) July 21, 2026
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