The WBO has ruled out the possibility of Denzel Bentley defending his middleweight belt against Conor Benn, at least for now.<\/p>\n
Benn, when challenging for the WBC welterweight title, was beaten in two rounds by Ryan Garcia on September 12 in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
The making of the Briton\u2019s shot at Garcia was contentious, specifically because Benn hadn\u2019t fought at 147lbs since April 2022 but was installed as the WBC\u2019s mandatory last December.<\/p>\n
Since beating Chris van Heerden more than four years ago, Benn had battled PED charges while competing at junior middleweight before he moved to 160lbs in 2025 to go 1-1 with Chris Eubank Jnr.<\/p>\n
The appeal of the Eubank Jnr two-fight rivalry saw Benn\u2019s stock soar and, even after losing in emphatic fashion to Garcia<\/a> last weekend, his marketability was still recognized by Bentley.<\/p>\n The WBO middleweight champion, who was upgraded from interim boss in July, said this week that he\u2019d be willing to offer Benn a route back<\/a> via a shot at his title.<\/p>\n While doing so, Bentley admitted he was looking for the biggest payday possible and that Benn would be jumping the queue. Cuba\u2019s Yoenli Hernandez, for example, is sitting at No. 1 spot in the WBO middleweight rankings.<\/p>\n