Denzel Bentley crowned full WBO middleweight champion as Janibek Alimkhanuly relinquishes title

Britain’s Denzel Bentley (22‑3‑1, 18 KOs) was elevated from interim to full WBO middleweight champion after Kazakh boxer Janibek Alimkhanuly voluntarily gave up the 160‑pound belt and sought a ranking at super‑middleweight. Alimkhanuly, who had been stripped of his IBF title earlier in the year following a positive PED test, had previously defeated Bentley in 2022.

The World Boxing Organization also named unbeaten Cuban southpaw Yoenli Hernandez (10‑0, 9 KOs) as the mandatory challenger for Bentley’s upcoming defense, ending a two‑year period without a required middleweight title defence. Hernandez, a former Cuban national champion now training in the United States, is slated to be Bentley’s first potential opponent as a full champion.