Danny D🌳ignum insists that a victory over Denzel Bentley will revitalise his career. The middleweights meet in a genuine crossroads fight on May 11 and the Londoner knows that it is a fight he must win. 

Both men came up short in their fights with ♛now unified WBO and IBF middleweight champion Janibek A✤limkhanuly, but they each left Las Vegas with wildly different tales to tell.

Whereas Bentley, 18-3-1 (15 KOs), recovered from a sl꧒ow start to push Alimkhanuly hard over the second half of their fight and emerge with his reputation enhanced,✃ things didn’t go as well for Dignum, 16-1-1 (9 KOs). The Londoner was never allowed to find his feet and was taken out in the second round by the quality Kazakh in May 2022.

Dignum returned with low profile back-to-back wins la🌼st year but has been waiting for a meaningful fight and the chance to eꦦrase the memory of the defeat to Alimkhanuly.

“I’ve been in the gym for a l💖ong time and nothing’s been happening. The fight got presented to me and I accepted it straight away. I need a fight,” Dignum told Queensberry.

“It can open a lot of doors for me. It’s a 50-50 fight. The winner goes o🐻n to some big things, I think, like the British and European titles. That’s what gives me the drive and is the reason I accepted this fight.&💙rdquo;

If the contest with Alimkhanuly was a slightly unexpected opportunity ✤to gatecrash the world scene, Dignum believes that the fight with Bentley will truly define which way his career goes. Bentley himself is in desperate need of a victory after losing his British middleweight title to Nathan Heaney last 🐽November.

Dignum has weighed up the benefits of a win but is also fully aware of the potential ramifications were he to lose. The fight represents a⛄ make or break night in the 32-year-old’s career but it isn’tᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ one he is stepping into blindly.

“I🥂 know Denzel and I’ve shared the ring many times with him in sparring. He’s a very, very good fighter but I&♒rsquo;m gonna be prepared and come and give it my best,” he said.

“I’ve been sparring him since he first turnꦗed pro back in 2017. I’ve got a lot of respect for Denzel. Over the years we’ve 🦩had many good spars, some in his favor, some in my favor. That’s what’s gonna make it an interesting fight.

“I can only speak for myself but I still think I’ve got a lot to give in boxing. I still feel fresh. I feel good. For me, a loss would probably mean retirement and I’m not ready to retire yet. I&rsquo🅷;ve still got the drꦯive and ambition so I have to win this fight."