Queensberry Promotions will return to London’s York Hall on May 11, when Denzel Bentley and Danny Dignum will headline in a middleweight showdown that has serious implications for both.

Before he turned in a lacklustre performance and lost his British title to Nathan Heaney in December, Bentley, 18-3-1 (15 KOs), looked a fighter on the rise. In November 2022 he made his first foray into world level, and grew in confidence throughout his fight with the reigning IBF and WBO champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly when pushing the Kazakh hard throughout the second half of their fight. The 29 year old insists that he knows why things went wrong against Heaney, and also that he needs to remind people exactly what he is capable of.

Six months before Bentley, Dignum, 16-1-1 (9 KOs) travelled to America for his own fight with Alimkhanuly. He didn’t fare as well; he suffered a second-round defeat and lost his unbeaten record in the process. The 32 year old won an ABA title before turning professional but has always been on the outskirts of the domestic scene. 

Although their fight is a solid domestic match-up, both Bentley and Dignum will be fully aware of the repercussions another defeat could have on their careers. A comprehensive loss for either could have catastrophic affect on their future world-title hopes. 

Nathaniel Collins gets the chance to move into contention to fight for the European title. Within 14 fights, the 27 year old featherweight has claimed Celtic, Commonwealth and British titles and in November he turned back a determined effort from the previously undefeated Zak Miller to hold on to his belts after 12 exciting rounds.

Collins, 14-0 (7 KOs), has been vocal about wanting to step up in class, and he had been due to defend his British title against mandatory challenger Hopey Price, but the Yorkshireman’s damaged hand forced a delay. Rather than sit idle, the fitness fanatic will challenge Italy’s Francesco Grandelli. 

Grandelli, 18-2-2 (4 KOs), has had an up and down career. In 2019 he beat the British super featherweight champion Reece Bellotti, but in May he was stopped inside a round by his countryman Mauro Forte in a fight for the vacant European title. 

At super featherweight Ryan “The Piranha” Garner will fight the former British champion, Liam Dillon. 

Garner, 14-0 (8 KOs), has long been spoken about as one of Britain’s most precocious talents but has been unable to gather momentum. For years he was slowed down by bad luck and bad decisions, but more recently the gifted 26 year old has settled down and shown flashes of his true potential. Last August he produced a career-best performance to stop Spain’s Juan Antunez in three rounds, but he will need to be better again to cope with the pressure Dillon, 13-1-1 (3 KOs), will apply.

Dillon, 28, only knows one way to fight. He will set a high tempo and look to exhaust Garner before overwhelming him in the second half of their fight. The former southern area and English champion won the British title last July by grinding out a split-decision victory over Qais Ashfaq but he lost it in February when Bellotti outpointed him over 12 thrilling rounds.