Bentley holds on for close decision win after fast start vs Mosley Jr

Denzel Bentley knocked Shane Mosley Jr down heavily early, before being made to eke out a unanimous decision win at the Copper Box Arena.

Bentley, who’d seen the WBO strip him of their middleweight championship in the build up to this fight, looked to take out his frustration on a world-rated opponent.

For a moment, in the early going, it looked like Bentley was going to make swift, brutal work of his opponent, the son of Hall of Famer Shane Mosley.

Mosley would have been happy with the opening round. He took the centre of the ring and used his long left to marshal Bentley. Pressed into a corner and backed up, Bentley threw potshots.

But in the second round Bentley hit with electric intent. A solid right cross shook Mosley up badly and the following cross to the chin sent the American down into the canvas.

Mosley managed to rise and Bentley set about him. But he couldn’t land quite cleanly enough to put Mosley down or out and the American got through the round.

By the fifth round Mosley had regrouped as he worked on the front foot. His right pinged Bentley and he attacked the Londoner on the ropes.

Bentley was too static as dynamism drained from his work. It invited the American to come forward and work. Mosley finished the seventh round letting his hands go as Bentley spun away.

The Londoner fired off bursts of punches and a cut by Mosley’s right eye did worsen. Single shots in the closing stages clipped Mosley, but Bentley didn’t shake him up as he had earlier on.

It left Bentley with a nervy wait for the scorecards but he came through on a unanimous but close decision, 96-94, 96-93 and 95-94.

American heavyweight hope Da’Mazion Vanhouter was too powerful and had too much sheer speed for Ivan Balaz.

Balaz began jabbing, but his left was sluggish and Vanhouter smiled. He powered punches into the Czech’s long body and then, with an audible crack, a left hook to the ribs dropped Balaz to his knee with a wince.

Vanhouter celebrated but Balaz just beat the count – only for huge shots to scrape across and plunge him back to the canvas.

Bravely Balaz rose, but Vanhouter ripped his right hook into the body and put him down a third time to end the fight. That was the 10th first-round knockout in the 21-year-old’s 14-bout pro career.

Lucas Roehrig displayed fine finishing instincts to stop Connal McDonald in the seventh of eight scheduled rounds.

Roehrig’s advantage in speed was clear in the opening round, when he lashed in a lead left hook flush.

He found openings for his rapid right cross but McDonald proved tough and could take his power early on.

The Scotsman pushed himself forward to apply pressure, chopping his left hook and jolting Roehrig with a right.

But the Londoner sucked in air and took his work up a gear in the sixth round, moving and jabbing well.

When he had McDonald hurt in the seventh he didn’t let up, striking in shuddering head shots to hack McDonald off his feet and end it.

Sam Hickey patiently fielded the attacks of Amaury Massenaux, blocking the Belgian’s hooks with tight elbows. He tested out his uppercut and would use that shot as a weapon to hurt Massenaux.

Hickey had looked to counter, but upped the pressure on Massenaux in the fourth round. A one-two arrowed in and the Scotsman began to crank in powershots.

He applied more of the same in the fifth round. His right hook landed round the side of the head and a right uppercut-left hook combination fired home at close range.

Massenaux backpedalled and dropped to a knee. On resumption Hickey hunted him down and when the referee saw the Belgian hurt, he stepped in to end it.

From the opening bell Kayla Allen waded into Julia Igel, clattering her onto the backfoot with unwavering aggression.

Igel covered up, blocked plenty of punches and threw back, but the assault from Allen kept on coming. Right hands from Allen poured in and she drove left hooks into the body.

Her pace only began to dwindle in the last round and Igel swung wildly as she briefly found herself on the front foot.

But she couldn’t break through and Allen won 58-56 after six rounds.

Austrian southpaw Umar Dzambekov continued his unbeaten run with a tremendous one-punch finish to take out world-class contender Zach Parker.

The two were evenly matched, boxing with precision over the opening three rounds of their scheduled 10-rounder, Parker cleverly targeting Dzambekov’s body with solid right hooks.

But in the fourth round, Dzambekov drilled him with a thudding left uppercut to the solar plexus. Parker folded over the punch, crumpled to the canvas and just could not beat the referee’s count.

Masood Abdulah opened the show winning an excellent eight-rounder against American prospect Adan Palma.

A flashing left from Abdulah streaked across in the first round to drop the visitor on the seat of his shorts.

But Palma struck back in the fourth round. He popped Abdulah with a hard left hook and the Londoner’s legs wobbled beneath him. Abdulah kept himself upright but he was hard-pressed.

In the fifth round Palma shook Abdulah up with a right but in the sixth round the home fighter managed to reassert control, dropping the American with another well-timed left hook.

Abdulah took a unanimous decision, 78-72, 77-73 and 76-74 on the cards.

Vinnie Kemp, nicknamed the “King of Violence,” made an impression. He swaggered into the ring, was reprimanded for barracking Liam McElhinney and battered his opponent into the ropes with wide-armed punches, ending it inside the first round.