THE latest instalment of Frank Warren’s Magnificent Seven series produced three wins for fighters who could challenge for world titles in 2025.
New European middleweight champion Denzel Bentley was told by Warren that he would fight for one early next year. Fellow Euro star Sam Noakes is ranked third with the WBO and heavyweight debutant Lawrence Okolie is similarly well placed with the WBC.
Boxing News assesses the options after Queensberry’s final show of 2025.
Denzel Bentley (21-3-1, 17 KOs)
The 29-year-old’s points win over Brad Pauls earned him not just the EBU title but the British title for a third time.
Bentley, the number one WBO middleweight contender, now knows that a second world title chance is within his grasp. That could push him towards a rematch against champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly. The Kazakh beat the Brit on points two years after Bentley stepped in at short notice but still gave a good account of himself.
Will Zhanibek want to go over old ground, however? Fighting Bentley won’t be high on the list of priorities for the 31-year-old. Should he vacate to concentrate on defending the IBF title or move to 168lbs then Bentley would face next in line Shane Mosley Jr for a chance to become world champion.
If a world title fight can’t be made right away for ‘2 Sharp’ then he must remain active to keep him…sharp and operating at his best as we’ve seen in 2024.
Sam Noakes (16-0, 14 KOs)
The chirpy Noakes put in a good 12-round shift against Ryan Walsh to defend his British and Commonwealth lightweight titles.
Everything is running smoothly for Noakes, who has had a rewarding 2024, which has earned him multiple titles and a high ranking with the WBO. World champion Denys Berinchyk is a winnable fight for Noakes but it won’t be next for the 27-year-old contender. Frenchman Laid Douadi is listed on the EBU website as being the second challenger for Noakes’ European title.
Next year Noakes will no doubt build on the success of 2024. A defence of his EBU, a world title eliminator against number eight ranked Josh Padley and maybe a shot at the ultimate prize by the end of the year could be a possible plan of action.
Lawrence Okolie
The days of making 200lbs for Lawrence Okolie were well and truly forgotten last night after the 2016 Olympian weighed in at a whopping 260lbs for his heavyweight debut.
His first-round win against Hussein Muhamed was the second consecutive fight, which showed that the Okolie of old has been replaced by a thumping wrecking ball of a man.
The 31-year-old is ranked at five by the WBC and according to Saturday night chatter he and trainer Joe Gallagher are eyeing a fight against Joe Joyce. That could arrive in the first quarter next year. Joyce should be retired, to be frank. If, however, that does kick off Okolie’s 2025 let’s hope he’s facing the winner of Zhang (4) and Kabayel (2) afterwards in a world title eliminator. That would put him on the cusp of challenging for the WBC title come the end of the year.
