Denzel Bentley beats Shane Mosley Jr on points after losing WBO title

Denzel Bentley defeated Shane Mosley Jr by unanimous decision at London's Copper Box on Saturday, winning a 10-round contest shortly after being stripped of his WBO middleweight title. According to BBC Sport's report, the British boxer knocked the American down in the second round and finished with all three judges scoring the bout in his favour.

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The knockdown came from a pair of right hands. Bentley first sent Mosley backwards with a straight right, then landed another to put him on the canvas. Mosley got through the count and survived the round, but Bentley continued to connect as the contest developed, finding openings while boxing off the back foot.

By the fifth round, Mosley was bleeding above his right eye. Bentley maintained his effectiveness late in the fight, moving around his opponent and landing shots that drew applause from the crowd. The judges returned scores of 96-94, 96-93 and 95-94, giving Bentley the decision in the evening's main support bout.

The victory followed a change in Bentley's championship status. BBC Sport reported that he had been stripped of the WBO belt in late October after agreeing to face Mosley rather than his mandatory challenger. His interim championship had earlier become the full world title when Janibek Alimkhanuly moved up to super-middleweight.

After the decision, the 31-year-old Bentley pointed towards Conor Benn in the audience and indicated his interest in a future meeting. That was a suggested opponent rather than an announced fixture; the BBC report did not confirm a fight between them.

On the same card, Chev Clarke stopped former cruiserweight world champion Chris Billam-Smith in the seventh round of their non-title contest. Clarke scored two knockdowns before the referee intervened following further punches. It was Billam-Smith's first professional stoppage defeat and his third loss overall, while Clarke improved to 13 wins and two defeats.

Billam-Smith protested immediately against the intervention. Promoter Dana White also questioned whether the stoppage had come too soon, according to the BBC. Clarke had previously beaten Billam-Smith as an amateur a decade earlier and said after Saturday's victory that he was willing to face any opponent.