“I’m just chilling now. I need to catch up on some sleep if I’m honest but I’ll probably do a few things, go to the beach, get my toes in the sand,” a happy Bentley told The Ring as he relaxed in Ghana.

Bentley is visiting family and friends but made sure to pack his newly won WBO interim middleweight title belt. The trip has turned into a mini victory tour.

Earlier this month, the 31-year-old Londoner won the title by stopping the tough Venezuelan Endry Saavedra (17-2-1, 14 KOs) in the seventh round.

“He was really good. He could punch really hard,” Bentley said.

Due to some ridiculous boxing politics, Bentley - The Ring's No. 9 ranked middleweight - may yet have to cross paths with his old rival and full WBO titleholder Janibek Alimkhanuly before officially calling himself a champion.

However, the fight with Saavedra had all the tension and quality of a full world title fight.

The man who started boxing by sparring his friends in the courts and blocks of the Patmore Estate in Battersea with a pair of market stall gloves has come a long way.

“It looks like you've got an opportunity and took it but it's 10 years in the making,” he said.

“It’s the journey and everything that’s built up to it. People don't see that side of it because they only see when we're out there performing. The inactivity, not getting paid, taking losses, career getting set back, having to go again, family issues, things outside of boxing. All these things.

“That’s what made it so much sweeter because the journey's been hard. It’s been long. Just being able to get that right on that night, it just felt like a relief and like a weight off my shoulder that I’ve finally done it.”

Turning professional without a long list of amateur titles or a well-established fanbase, Bentley made an early vow to stay as busy as possible and to say “yes” to every opportunity.

He learned as he went. He is a three-time British middleweight champion and earned respect for the way he acquitted himself against Alimkhanuly during an early, unexpected world title fight back in November 2022 but there have been disappointing defeats and difficult moments amongst the successes.

Importantly, Bentley returned from every setback as a wiser professional and a better fighter.

In December 2024, he beat Brad Pauls to win the European middleweight title and, riding high in the WBO rankings, decided to wait for his chance to return to world level.

He didn’t expect to have to wait so long. Bentley ended up spending 16 months out of the ring and had to consider taking a job as an Amazon delivery driver to support his young family.

Although he has had plenty of cause to over the years, Bentley isn’t the type to moan or complain about injustices or problems and rarely airs his grievances. He continued to turn up at the Peacock Gym every day and quietly prepare himself for his moment.

What is done in the dark will eventually come to light and beating Saavedra in such exciting style reminded people just what he is capable of.

“I'm sure you know already, I like to go around and read the comments afterwards,” he laughed.

“People will come out saying, “What a good fighter” or that I’m the most underrated fighter in the country.

“It's just crazy. I know I've boxed on television but sometimes you don't think that people - I don't want to say appreciate but that's the word I'm going to use - appreciate what you do or see what you're doing.

“It's just good to be acknowledged for what I'm doing rather than what I'm not.”

Bentley’s path now leads him back towards Alimkhanuly.

When the two first met, an inexperienced Bentley understandably took his time to find his feet at world level. Although he grew in confidence throughout the fight he eventually lost a unanimous decision.

He has long called for a second shot at Alimkhanuly and would enter a rematch in an entirely different frame of mind. If and when a rematch would take place is an altogether different conversation.

Back in December, Alimkhanuly tested positive for the banned substance meldonium just before his scheduled fight with WBA titleholder Erislandy Lara.

Whilst the IBF decided to strip the Kazakh, the WBO suspended him for a year but allowed him to keep his belt.

Bentley isn’t spending his time worrying about the future and doesn’t have to waste his energy beating the drum for a fight with the Kazakh.

He will make a defence of his interim title later this year safe in the knowledge that as long as he wins, Alimkhanuly will either have to fight him upon returning or vacate his belt.

Bentley wasn’t emailed his interim title, neither was he gift wrapped a safe opponent to keep him quiet and happy.

He and Saavedra were ranked at number one and two in the WBO rankings and Bentley won the fight by knockout. He already feels like a champion.

“The current champion isn't allowed to box,” Bentley said. “He doesn't really hold a belt because you got caught on the supplement the week of a fight he was meant to have. Your punishment should be getting stripped straight away because you were going to fight under those circumstances.

“That's not right. But - at the end of the day - it is what it is. That felt like a real world title shot to me. I was in a tough fight with a tough man and managed to pull off the victory how I pulled it off.”