Battersea’s Denzel Bentley was very much the home fighter as he defended his British middleweight title atop a Queensberry card at York Hall on Friday night but, in the opposite corner, Manchester-born Marcus Morrison certainly didn’t lack ambition.
Bentley (16-1-1) is known for his power-punching, sometimes unorthodox style and has suffered only one defeat previously – that came at the hands of a supreme talent in Felix Cash. Conversely, Morrison (25-5) already had five losses on his record. The two most recent of those came against very highly rated opposition in Chris Eubank Jr and Zach Parker.
The fight started cagily and both men displayed a nervous energy in the first round. Morrison’s early tactic seemed to be making Bentley miss and countering with a chopping right hook. On his first attempt this counter missed, but the second landed clean and made an impact.
Morrison was making his mark and then, in the closing seconds of the round, with both men pausing for a second in centre-ring, Bentley threw a straight right hand down the pipe which crunched home hard, seemingly breaking Morrison’s nose. The bell rang instantly but Morrison returned to his corner bloodied.
In the second and third rounds, both men looked wary of each other’s power, having sampled some hard shots. There were lulls in the fight and then flurries of activity but generally Bentley led most of the action. Morrison replied capably but looked increasingly worried by Bentley’s power as the fight wore on.
In the fourth, severely bloodied and having eaten more right hands from Bentley, the resistance seemed to drain out of Morrison. He was still returning fire, whenever Bentley came forward, but increasingly fighting like a cornered animal. He swung wild hooks in answer to the Battersea man’s attacks and Bentley just came on stronger. Finally, as he backed up to the ropes again, trainer Joe Gallagher stepped into the ring to save his man.
It felt like a timely intervention and Morrison can have no complaints. With Denzel Bentley’s fantastic record of finishing fights in spectacular, explosive fashion, it seems a diligent piece of corner-work from Gallagher.
It’s a big win for Bentley and he told broadcaster BT Sport he now believes he can progress to world level. Certainly, it’s notable that he stopped Morrison in four given that Eubank Jr went the distance when beating him in 2021. Whether or not Bentley can make that leap remains to be seen and a sterner test may be needed first.
In the main supporting contest Ellis Zorro (14-0) took on experienced Scunthorpe gatekeeper, Dec Spelman (18-5). All of Spelman’s losses have come to highly-rated opposition and his first came at the hands of the now tragically departed Scott Westgarth, who died shortly after the fight.
Admirably, Spelman always goes to great lengths to remember and commemorate Westgarth’s memory. Yet again, he entered the ring with ‘Scotty’ emblazoned on his shorts.
Spelman started with confidence and landed more shots in the opening round, but Zorro picked his punches a little better, finishing the round with hard hooks to the body. As the taller man he made good use of his jab too. Better known as a light-heavyweight in the past, Spelman looked a little fleshy around the midsection, but far from out of his depth.
By round three though it was apparent that Zorro had the quality in the fight. Slipping and blocking punches with an easy eloquence and flow, it seemed he had to expend much less energy to stay in the fight. Spelman meanwhile had to work very hard to do so. He may have taken the first round, but found slim pickings then until the sixth.
Early in the fourth, Spelman was floored by a crunching right hook to the body and struggled to make the count, but showed immense grit to see the round out.
Spelman looked hurt in the sixth but came back with his own volley and saw the first success he’d had since round one, leaving Zorro on the ropes taking shots.
Zorro saw the round out though and was briefly back on top at the start of the seventh, flicking out a languid jab to control the fight. Then suddenly, Spelman landed another flurry of marauding hooks forcing Zorro to cover up on the ropes. The Yorkshireman couldn’t force the stoppage though and then the fight erupted as both men went hell for leather in an unforgettable round which stained Zorro’s white shorts red.
In the eighth and final round it was a blood and guts affair again, but Zorro won out in the end, taking the 77-74 decision.
Elsewhere on the undercard Frank Arnold (9-0-1) faced Brayan Mairena at super-featherweight. Mairena came out all guns blazing, landing hard shots from the first bell. In the third, Arnold’s gumshield was knocked out and then he was floored. Referee Chas Coakley seemed to view the gumshield as a reason for extending the count but Arnold was ultimately allowed to continue, despite not looking entirely steady on his feet.
At the start of the fourth a big right hook saw Arnold down again as he collapsed in worrying fashion in the away corner. Medics rushed to the ring and the crowd looked on with angst – it was a tense moment at York Hall but thankfully Arnold was receptive to treatment and made a good recovery, leaving the ring under his own steam, though still on oxygen.
Royston Barney Smith (2-0) took on a more experienced man in Paul Holt. The super-featherweight bout ended quickly though and southpaw Smith almost stopped Holt with just his second punch. Holt survived that barrage but not for long, another floored him and the bout was stopped after just 36 seconds.
‘The Pirate’ Adan Mohamed (6-0) faced off against Reiss ‘Showy’ Taylor (3-17) at super-bantam and took a fifth-round stoppage win.
Welterweight Khalid Ali (3-0) stepped into the ring for his fourth professional contest, facing Dario Borosa (1-19) of Croatia. The power-punching southpaw gave Borosa problems from the off and the Croatian looked outmatched. Ali took the decision 60-54.
Masood Abdulah (5-0) faced Stafan Nicolae (3-37-2) at super-featherweight and claimed a fourth-round stoppage victory.
At cruiserweight, Arnold Obodai took a 40-36 decision against Poland’s Pawel Strykowski (3-18-1).
In his pro debut, Joel Kodua overcame Leeds-trained Joel Hardy (1-2) over four rounds taking a 40-36 decision and getting his career off to a flying start.
