At the top of a Frank Warren promoted card at York Hall, Bethnal Green, Denzel Bentley successfully defended his British middleweight title with a fourth round stoppage win over the brave Marcus Morrison in what was a war..
Both unloaded with some heavy artillery in the opening frame, and Bentley (17-1-1, 14 KOs) seemed hurt by a Morrison (25-6, 16 KOs) right hand halfway through the round.
The pair went blow-for-blow as a pulsating first came to a close. Morrison was bleeding as early as the start of the second, and ‘2 Sharp’ went to work immediately, landing a cracking right hand that the challenger took well.
It was frantic stuff, and the third saw Bentley get the better of the action, and he hurt ’Sweet MNM’ with a body shot at the conclusion of the round.
The body shots were causing the 29-year-old problems, and he was hurt by another one in round four, under heavy fire, and as his face was getting more and more busted up, his trainer Joe Gallagher had seen enough, and walked into the ring to call a halt to proceedings.
It was a first defence of the belt for the Battersea man who reclaimed the title after beating Linus Udofia in May.
Zorro powers past Spelman
The chief support was a cracker, and Ellis Zorro took an eight round points win at cruiserweight against Dec Spelman.
Zorro (15-0, 6 KOs) scored a knockdown in the fourth round with a wicked body shot, but Spelman (15-0, 6 KOs) was spirited, and rallied towards the end.
OUCH! 🤢
Ellis Zorro drops Dec Spelman with a vicious body shot 💥 pic.twitter.com/Dm1wAx9Nr4
— Boxing on BT Sport 🥊 (@BTSportBoxing) September 16, 2022
The seventh was a classic, with toe-to-toe action, but eventually Zorro took the win by a 77-74 margin.
Mairena wipes out Arnold
There was a big upset at super featherweight, as Brayan Mairena flattened Frank Arnold in the fourth round of their eight rounder.
Mairena (12-30-1, 6 KOs) decked Arnold (9-1-1, 3 KOs) heavily with two right hands in the third, and a round later, he was way too reckless, and a huge right hand detonated on Arnold’s chin, and he worryingly bounced off the ropes on the way to a knockout defeat.
Brayan Mairena knocks out Frank Arnold! 💥
RESPECT to both Mairena and Arnold, who was able to leave the ring after receiving medical care. pic.twitter.com/hd9NpfGWrM
— Boxing on BT Sport 🥊 (@BTSportBoxing) September 16, 2022
Remaining Undercard
Adan Mohamed remained undefeated, but was involved in a frustrating fifth round stoppage win at super bantamweight against Reiss Taylor.
Mohamed (7-0, 2 KOs) was much the bigger man, but was finding Taylor (3-18, 1 KO) hard to pin down cleanly, but he eventually wore his opponent down.
Taylor’s corner pulled their man out of battle midway through the fifth.
At super featherweight, Masood Abdulah (6-0, 5 KOs) impressed, as he stopped Stefan Nicolae (3-38-2, 1 KO) in the fourth round of a scheduled six.
A sustained attack forced the referee’s intervention.
Royston Barney-Smith (3-0, 1 KO) scored his first knockout win, and the 18-year-old super featherweight stopped Paul Holt in just over 30 seconds.
A big left hand did the damage, flooring Holt (8-15, 2 KOs) heavily, and he was unable to continue.
⭐️ The first @sugarboyroy KO of his professional career.
Many more to come 💥#BentleyMorrison | Now | Live on @btsport pic.twitter.com/FAGcWwPX6e
— Frank Warren (@frankwarren_tv) September 16, 2022
Khalid Ali (4-0, 2 KOs) won all six rounds of his welterweight encounter with Dario Borosa (1-20).
Arnold Obedai (2-0, 1 KO) won his second paid contest, taking all four rounds of his cruiserweight contest with Pawel Strykowski (3-19-1).
Joel Kodua (1-0) debuted, and the middleweight also took all four rounds against Joe Hardy (1-3).
