Recently crowned WBC middleweight world champion Denzel Bentley has revealed he is struggling to find his mojo after an "underwhelming" start to his world title reign.
The 31-year-old fulfilled his lifelong dream earlier this year after the WBO upgraded the Briton to full champion after capturing the interim strap thanks to a stoppage victory over Endry Saavedra.
However, whilst the fighter had long imagined the euphoria of global domination, Bentley says the reality of becoming a 160lbs ruler hasn't lived up to his expectations.
Speaking to the Ring Magazine recently, he said: "I’ll be honest with you, I was driving back from a meeting with Frank Warren when my manager phoned me asking if I’d checked my emails.
"I hadn’t so he told me to pull over and have a look. I quickly parked up, loaded up my emails and just like that I was world champion. Fair enough.
Of course it’s a great achievement and it’s the very pinnacle of the sport, but when you get to that stage it’s underwhelming. I’m thinking ‘is that it?'
- Denzel Bentley (Ring Magazine)
"I’ve worked my whole career to get to this point and I always felt like once you achieve it, the world is yours. But you get there and realise, I’ve got the world title but there is still more work to do.
"I don’t know, maybe once I have a defense and start moving forward again I’ll appreciate it more but as of now, I’m just living my life as I did before I was champion.
"Maybe it’s because I didn’t have that moment in the ring that it feels different. I saw it that the day I beat Saavedra I won the world title, but in reality that’s not what happened."
Bentley's impressive seventh round stoppage success over the Venezuelan put him in pole position for the regular title; one he was awarded after former champion Janibek Alimkhanuly opted to relinquish after testing positive for a banned substance.
The Queensberry star has since lobbied for a clash with Ireland's Aaron McKenna, who is in possession of the IBF belt, however, the WBO have instead ordered him to undertake a first mandatory defence of his title against number two ranked Yoenli Hernandez.
Though despite that, the Londoner is still hoping the all-British middleweight unification bout can still come to fruition in the future.
"We’re still working on certain things," Bentley answered when asked if plans were in place for his next fight.
"I’m hoping to be out in November time but the latest would be December. I’m hoping that all works out.
"Whether the McKenna fight happens next, I don’t think so now, but I think at some point, especially next year, it can definitely happen.
"If he wants to clean up the division like he says he does then I have to be a fight for him.
"But now, being world champion, I need it to open more doors for me to just build my profile and take me onto bigger and better things, get those unifications and become a household name."
