Denzel Bentley vs Nathan Heaney Preview November 18th, 2023
Denzel Bentley of London, England defends his British Middleweight Title for the third time in Manchester this Saturday, November 18th as he takes on unbeaten Nathan Heaney of Stoke on Trent. The 12-rounder can be seen live in America on ESPN+ while fans in the UK can catch it on TNT Sport 1. Bentley last fought in April when he stopped Kieran Smith in just 45 seconds. Heaney was last in action in March when he beat Jack Flatley by 10-round unanimous decision in a rematch after he beat Flatley by a five-round technical decison due to an accidental head butt six months earlier for Heaney’s IBO International Middleweight Title.
Bentley vs Heaney Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Nathan Heaney +500
- Denzel Bentley -800
My Pick
Bentley is 28 years old and has mark of 18-2-1 with 15 Ko’s and has boxed 81 rounds since making his pro debut in 2017. He stands 5-feet-11-inches tall with a 72-inch reach and possesses better-than-average power as 83.3 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage and has gone the distance in two of his last four fights. Bentley’s first pro defeat came at the hands of Felix Cash by third-round stoppage in April, 2021 to lose his Commonwealth and British Middleweight Titles.
However he regained the vacant British Title with a split decision win over Linus Udofia in May, 2022. He and then defended it by stopping Marcus Morrison in the fourth round four months later and against Kieran Smith the last time out. Bentley’s second defeat came at the hands of Zhanibek Alimkhanuly when he dropped a unanimous decision last November in a shot at the WBO Middleweight Title. His lone draw as a pro was a 10-round affair with Mark Heffron in September, 2020.
Bentley then beat Heffron by stopping him after the fourth round in a rematch two months later to capture the vacant British Middleweight Belt for the first time. Bentley has basically been fighting domestic and European level opponents up to now and has never fought outside of the UK as a pro. He took a step up in class against Alimkhanuly however and acquitted himself quite well.
As for Heaney, he’s 34 years old and carries around a perfect mark of 17-0 with 6 Ko’s and has boxed 109 rounds since making his pro debut in 2017 following his long amateur career. He’s reportedly 6-feet-1-inch tall and unfortunately has an unlisted reach so has a two-inch height advantage on Bentley. Heaney certainly isn’t known for his power as his current knockout ratio clocks in at 35.3 per cent. He hasn’t stopped anybody in his last three fights but won by stoppage in his previous three outings.
Heaney captured the vacant British Midlands Area Middleweight Title in 2019 with a 10-round decision over Tom Stokes and added the vacant IBO Continental Super Middleweight Belt in 2020 with a 10-round unanimous decision over Christian Schembri. He added the vacant IBO International Middleweight Crown in 2021 when he stopped Sladan JanJanin in the seventh round and also has a win over Diego Ramirez. However just six of Heaney’s 17 opponents have entered the ring with winning records.
Prediction…
Bentley and Heaney are solid pros, but Bentley proved he is a class above that with his fine performance against Zhanibek Alimkhanuly. Bentley has the decided edge in power but will need to get inside against the Heaney. It should be a pretty good fight and I’m giving Bentley the edge here as he’s fought tougher competition as of now and is also six years younger.
Play Bentley -800 @ BetOnline.ag
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Denzel Bentley betting • Nathan Heaney betting