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The WBO has officially ordered an eliminator between England’s Denzel Bentley and Endry Saavedra of Venezuela for the middleweight title held by Zhanibek Alimkhanuly.
Bentley, 30, has remained inactive since defeating his compatriot Brad Pauls in December to win the British and European titles at 160lbs.
He and his promoter Frank Warren were then vocal about their desire to enter a rematch with Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly, also the IBF champion, but his career has since threatened to stall.
It was in April in Australia when the 34-year-old Saavedra stopped Mikkel Nielsen of Denmark, and in turn also moved into contention to challenge Alimkhanuly, who Bentley lost to via decision in November 2022. It was then on Monday when Warren and Saavedra’s promoter, Matt Rose of No Limit, were informed by the WBO of what should be their next move.
“The parties are granted 20 days to negotiate and reach an agreement on the terms of the bout,” read the statement from the sanctioning body. “Any party may request purse bid proceedings at any point during this negotiation period.
“Should the parties fail to reach an agreement within the prescribed time frame, the committee will proceed to purse bid in accordance with the WBO regulations of world championship contests.
“The minimum bid for the WBO middleweight division is $200,000.”
Alimkhanuly, incidentally, had recently posted on social media: “It’s clear by now that everyone knows who the most avoided boxer is.”
Bentley imminently responded: “How can you be avoided if I’m chasing you?”
