The WBO has ruled out the possibility of Denzel Bentley defending his middleweight belt against Conor Benn, at least for now.
Benn, when challenging for the WBC welterweight title, was beaten in two rounds by Ryan Garcia on September 12 in Las Vegas.
The making of the Briton’s shot at Garcia was contentious, specifically because Benn hadn’t fought at 147lbs since April 2022 but was installed as the WBC’s mandatory last December.
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.
The appeal of the Eubank Jnr two-fight rivalry saw Benn’s stock soar and, even after losing in emphatic fashion to Garcia last weekend, his marketability was still recognized by Bentley.
The WBO middleweight champion, who was upgraded from interim boss in July, said this week that he’d be willing to offer Benn a route back via a shot at his title.
While doing so, Bentley admitted he was looking for the biggest payday possible and that Benn would be jumping the queue. Cuba’s Yoenli Hernandez, for example, is sitting at No. 1 spot in the WBO middleweight rankings.
“Not happening,” WBO president Gustavo Olivieri told BoxingScene when asked if his organisation would sanction a contest between Bentley and Benn.
“Bentley has been mandated to fight Hernandez and the mandatory must be discharged as ordered.
“Benn is not even rated and is coming off a TKO loss.”
