Denzel Bentley has warned middleweight kingpin Janibek Alimkhanuly that he is a different fighter to the one he beat in Las Vegas nearly three years ago.

The undefeated Kazakh ace is The Ring's No. 1-rated middleweight and considered the man to beat in the division given he holds both the WBO and IBF titles.

The 32-year-old can already count Bentley among his 17 defeated opponents to date as a result of his unanimous decision victory at the Palms Casino on November 12, 2022.

Despite losing on all three cards that night, Bentley received a huge amount of credit for the nature of his performance. For him though, that was scant consolation after not leaving Sin City with the world title in his luggage.

The Londoner had been handed that surprising world title crack by chance but vowed that night to work his way back into the mandatory position in order to exact revenge. He is currently No. 1 with the WBO but now must fight a final eliminator to book a second crack at the champ.

As confirmed by the WBO back in July, an agreement was reached for Bentley to face WBO No. 2 contender Endry Saavedra (17-1-1, 14 KOs) on a Queensberry Promotions card in October. It is understood the 160-pound eliminator will land on the Joseph Parker-Fabio Wardley undercard next month, streamed live on DAZN PPV.

There is still no official confirmation but Bentley, who speaks to The Ring following 10 hard rounds of sparring, is still working away diligently.

The 30-year-old (21-3-1, 17 KOs) has not yet boxed this year but has been waiting patiently for his chance to set up a second fight with Janibek.

“I’ve been in the gym since January really, just waiting for a date,” Bentley says. “I would have defended my European title just to stay busy but had to vacate, to keep my position with the WBO.

“It wasn’t a hard decision to make because of what was promised and now we’ve got the fight locked in, the WBO have announced it, so it has to happen at some point.

“It’s annoying it has taken this long because we were pushing to be made mandatory for Janibek. I could have had this final eliminator ages ago but it’s here now and I’m not complaining.

“I know that when I win this fight I will get the fight with Janibek. The first fight just came from an opportunity where they just went down the rankings and picked me. The way the fight went then put my name on the map and stamped me as a world-class fighter so from then on I thought ‘I need to earn my way back to that and do it properly’.”

His route back towards the California-based southpaw was obstructed by Nathan Heaney, who stunned Bentley by majority decision to win their British title fight in November 2023.

He has won three on the spin since then, claiming the WBO international title and then defending it twice, firing him to the top of their rankings. He is currently No. 9 with The Ring.

While Bentley has been stealthily working his way back towards Janibek, the champion has racked up four more successful defences and unified via a sixth-round knockout victory over then-IBF champion Vincenzo Gualtieri in October 2023. As such, he would start as a significant favourite over Bentley should the pair meet again.

But, having shared 12 rounds with him back then, Bentley is adamant he has now developed into the man capable of handing Janibek his first defeat.

“It’s coming up nearly three years since I boxed him,” he adds. “I’m maturing myself and that was a young Denzel just taking an opportunity back then.

“I’d only been a pro for five years whereas he’s a man with 300 amateur fights alone. I was an amateur for three years and only had 17 fights. The experience alone trumped me."

“Now three years down the line, I’ve had more tough fights, more championship fights and I’ve learned a lot about myself. I know what I’m in against this time because I’ve already been in there before.

“But I think the key is that he’s a fighter that can’t get any better than he already is. That’s an amazing fighter but he can’t get better. In fact he’s always struggling with the weight and only getting older.

“He’s a fighter who is so good but how far does that talent take him? But I’ve been a developing fighter and I think I’ve developed a lot in those three years - he hasn’t even been with the same trainer for three years.

“He blows up, struggles with weight, so there's a few things that he's facing himself. I think I've got the advantage over him just being more prepared and more disciplined with my weight and stuff. Yes he’s a skilful fighter but I’m different to how I was three years ago and can capitalise on that.”