My premature son nearly died after being born under 4lbs… but I couldn’t use trauma as excuse for shambolic defeat

DENZEL BENTLEY has explained to SunSport how he went into his British title loss as a red-hot favourite – while terrified his 3lb baby son would lose his fight for life.

The Battersea middleweight was tipped to dominate Stoke hero Nathan Heaney last November and defend his Lonsdale belt with relative ease.

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Denzel Bentley has opened up to SunSport about his newborn son’s fight for life[/caption]

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The middleweight star lost to Nathan Heaney just weeks after little Cairo was born[/caption]

Bentley refuses to blame his loss on the trauma surrounding his son’s first few weeksRichard Pelham / The Sun

But Heaney put on a masterclass to cause the upset and whack 29-year-old Bentley’s world-title pursuit.

In trademark Peacock Gym style, Bentley refused to use his personal plight – and that of little Cairo’s – as an excuse.

For almost a year SunSport was happy to leave the traumatic tale untold in respect of Heaney’s performance and Bentley’s privacy.

But as the little tyke approaches his first birthday, we asked Daddy Cool to look back on those events.

Bentley explained: “The fight was November 18 and he wasn’t due until the second to last week of November and then he turned up mid-October, six weeks early.

“But I had already agreed the fight and I was already in camp, we had done around six weeks with about three to go, then boom, he pops up.

“I didn’t know what to do. It was traumatic for me and my missus, because of the way he arrived, doctors were saying that if we had left it 30 minutes longer he might not have made it.

“He was in intensive care for about 10 days so I am only doing gym-hospital-home.

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“I stopped everything else, nothing else mattered, I forgot about everything else.

“It was a shambles and then as soon as I finally got him home, I had to go to Manchester for fight week and the fight.

“I genuinely did not want to be there, I wanted to be at home with my son.

“I spent every minute on the phone to my missus asking what the news was, what the updates are, what the midwife has said, what’s he weigh – because he was under 4lbs – is he healthy, is he on track, is he behind?

“And – because I cannot be there physically – I just want to get the fight out of the way and get home.

“I probably should have pulled out but if I was taken back in time I probably would still take the fight again – because I don’t want to live with regrets.

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“I had to crack on and I underestimated Nathan because I thought I could beat him on my worst day.

“But it was my mistake, this is not an excuse, I felt I could beat him.

“I didn’t want to use it as an excuse, I see fighters make excuses and I don’t like it.

“I didn’t want to speak about it until I came back and put on some proper performances that show that different mindsets produce different performances.”

When will the little terror learn he played such a pivotal role in briefly derailing his father’s career?

Bentley laughed: “He has a month left.”

“Once he turns one, he can listen to what he caused and get a clip round the ear.”

In a much more serious tone, the throwback fighter and doting parent told us: “My son never asked me to bring him here.

“I brought him into the world so it’s up to me to make sure he is secure and he can live the life he deserves to live.”

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