A Frank Warren promoted show goes ahead at York Hall, Bethnal Green this Friday evening, and the top of the bill sees Denzel Bentley defend his British middleweight title for the first time against Marcus Morrison.

BT Sport televise Bentley vs Morrison, live in the UK.

Bentley (16-1-1, 13 KOs) is a heavy-handed type, and first came into prominence during the first COVID-19 enforced lockdown in a cracking contest in September 2020.

The 27-year-old dropped Mark Heffron in the second round, and the pair fought to a thrilling draw.

A rematch was a natural, and this time with the vacant British title on the line, ‘2 Sharp’ forced Heffron to retire after four rounds.

The Battersea man attempted to add the Commonwealth belt, but found Felix Cash too much to handle in April last year, with Cash storming to a third round stoppage win.

After a comeback win, Bentley regained the Lonsdale Belt in May, as he took a split decision win over Linus Udofia for the vacant title in another breathless display.

Morrison (29-5, 16 KOs) suffered back-to-back losses in 2017, and it looked like his career was finished when upset by journeyman Alistair Warren in June 2018.

The 29-year-old rebounded with seven straight wins before a spirited points defeat to Chris Eubank Jr in May last year, but he was halted for the first time in his career in November 2021 by Zach Parker.

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That was at super middleweight, and he returned last month with a four round points win to secure this title shot.

Prediction: Morrison’s early defeat to Parker could well tell us all about his punch resistance, and Bentley is a big puncher. Once the Londoner catches up with ’Sweet MNM’, I think it could be over swiftly, and I expect Bentley to retain before halfway.

Zorro tackles Spelman

Ellis Zorro makes his debut under the Frank Warren banner, and he has a tough eight rounder with former Commonwealth title challenger, Dec Spelman (18-5, 9 KOs) at cruiserweight.

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Zorro (14-0, 6 KOs) is a former Ultimate BOXXER winner, but has never been past six rounds.

Prediction: He can overcome early scares here to take a points win.

Remaining Undercard

The other eight rounder should see a points win for Frank Arnold (9-0-1, 3 KOs) who takes on the tried and tested Nicaraguan, Brayan Mairena (11-30-1, 5 KOs) at super featherweight.

Six round action sees Adan Mohamed (6-0, 1 KO) make his third appearance of the year, and he can bank a points win at super bantamweight against Reiss Taylor (3-17, 1 KO).

Khalid Ali (3-0, 2 KOs) can also take his welterweight contest with Croatia’s Dario Borosa (1-19) on the scorecards.

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Masood Abdulah (5-0, 4 KOs) is also in action, and the Islington-based super featherweight can score another early win, this time against Stefan Nicolae (3-37-2, 1 KO).

In four action, Royston Barney-Smith (2-0) should defeat Paul Holt (8-14, 2 KOs) on points at super featherweight, and at middleweight, debutant Joel Kodua should deal with Joe Hardy (1-2) inside the distance.

Arnold Obodai (1-0, 1 KO) can also take his cruiserweight contest with Pawel Strykowski (3-18-1) inside schedule.

Source:proboxing

Jake Paul is set to fight UFC legend Anderson Silva in October.

Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva is actually happening. For real. Rumors had been swirling for weeks that negotiations for the fight were ongoing, but on Tuesday, Paul made it official.

My toughest test yet. I respect the legend, but he must be exterminated. @MostVpromotions presents #PaulSilva from Phoenix, AZ @GilaRiverArena

SAT OCT 29th live on Showtime PPV @ShowtimeBoxing

Meu teste mais difícil ainda. Eu respeito a lenda, mas ele deve ser exterminado. pic.twitter.com/en6qerCQ4B

— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) September 6, 2022

“My toughest test yet,” Paul said in a tweet. “I respect the legend, but he must be exterminated.”

After a glittering career in the UFC, Silva is arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. At the very least he’s in the top five. Silva broke multiple records during his reign as middleweight champion, but it’s the style with which he destroyed his opponents that made him legendary. 

“I know that in life everything has its purpose,” Silva said in a statement sent to ESPN. “Nothing comes just by chance. So I thank God for my health, my family and my team for providing me with this opportunity to continue doing the thing that I love the most. I believe this will be the biggest combat event of the year and will truly make history in the sport forever.”

Is there a press conference?

Of course there is. No massive combat sports event can take place without a wild press conference. Paul has already announced not one but two pressers next week in the US.

#PaulSilva Kick-off press conference Monday September 12th in Los Angeles live on my YouTube.

Phoenix Press Conference Tuesday, September 13th.

Ticket on-sale Wednesday, September 14th.

It’s SHOWTIME

— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) September 7, 2022

I wouldn’t expect anything too rowdy from these press conferences. Silva is a middle-age man who doesn’t like to trash talk. I’d expect even Paul to treat Silva with a dash of reverence and respect.

The first one kicks off on Monday Sept. 12 at 11 a.m. PST.

Below is The First Press Conference That has been released.

The Second Press Conference is now posted below:

When and where does the fight take place?

Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva is set for Oct. 29. The fight will take place in the Gila River Arena in Phoenix. 

Where can I can I watch?

Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva will be available to watch on Showtime PPV. Details are incoming, but the PPV event is set to kick off at 9 p.m. ET. 

Check out Paul vs. Silva

See at Showtime

Who is Anderson Silva

As mentioned above, Silva is one of the greatest fighters in UFC history. After defeating Rich Franklin for the UFC’s middleweight title in October 2006, Silva went on to hold that title for a record 2,457 days. His 16-fight undefeated streak in the UFC is a record that stands to this day.

But it was Silva’s fight style that made him an icon. A flashy, elusive counter striker, he did things that felt impossible. Fighting with his hands down, landing outlandish kicks, knees and punches from wild angles, Silva is essentially the Roy Jones Jr. of MMA. For many, he’s the greatest martial artist who’s ever lived.

After eventually losing his title to Chris Weidman in 2013, Silva had a difficult run of losses, resulting in him leaving the UFC in 2020 at the ripe old age of 45. Since then he’s had a remarkable resurgence in boxing. Most notably, he outclassed former world champ Julio César Chávez Jr. in an eight round boxing match. 

Who is Jake Paul?

You’re probably aware of Paul, the social media personality who first made it big on Vine before moving across to every platform in existence. He’s moved into boxing in recent years after fighting on the undercard of brother Logan Paul’s viral boxing match with UK YouTuber KSI. He showed a talent for boxing and has been fighting ever since. 

Paul has also moved into promotion, co-promoting a huge fight between Ireland’s Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, which was one of the biggest female boxing matches of all time.

Is this a fair fight?

Paul has been selective about his opponents to this point, which is smart. Every new fight is a step up in competition, but this one is unique for a few reasons.

Size is perhaps the most important. Every other Paul fight, until this point, has been against a dramatically undersize fighter. Paul has a fighting weight of 190 pounds, but in his last fight, faced off against Tyron Woodley, who in his prime in the UFC, competed at 170 pounds. 

Silva was the UFC’s middleweight champion with a fighting weight of 185 pounds. Not only that, he regularly stepped up in weight to fight in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. Arguably his best ever performance — a spectacular dismantling of former champ Forrest Griffin in 2009 — took place in this weight class, at 205 pounds. 

Unlike Woodley, Silva also has previous experience in boxing. Most recently, he’s dedicated his focus to the sport, putting together some extremely impressive wins. Silva is also one of the most lethal strikers in MMA history.

But Silva is also 47 years old. That’s pretty old. Ancient in terms of combat sports. To be clear, he’s not a normal 47 year old, but age is still a massive, massive factor.

I guess we’ll find out how much of a factor in October.

Source: cnet