Shane Mosley Jr Misses Weight Ahead of Showdown with Denzel Bentley

Shane Mosley Jr is clearly having trouble getting his big frame below the 160 lbs limit. Longer and lankier than his legendary father, Shane Mosley Snr, the young "Sugarman" looked gaunt when he stepped on the scales.

He needed to take the full hour, presumably to discharge liquids, and still had to strip off before making weight on the second attempt.

His opponent, Britain's Denzel Bentley (22-3-1) had no such difficulties, and was bang on 160. In a touch of class, Bentley said he hoped Mosley Jr rehydrated well and was healthy for their contest on Saturday.

A match between the US and UK usually brings fireworks, and the Copper Box Arena in East London packs in some of the most passionate and noisy fans in the world. The atmosphere should be incredible.

Mosley Jr (23-5) is a highly athletic, aggressive boxer who gets great leverage into his punches. His fundamentals are solid but he can be somewhat reckless in his eagerness to do damage.

As a savvy counter-puncher, Bentley may be able to capitalise on that.

In July, Bentley achieved his dream of becoming a world champion when he was elevated to the WBO title after Janibek Alimkhanuly moved up to Super Middleweight. He had previously won the interim title by stopping Endry Saavedra.

But his championship reign lasted a mere 102 days. He was stripped before he was even able to make his first defence, because he arranged to fight Shane Mosley Jr in a non-title under the Zuffa banner, before facing his WBO mandatory, Yoenli Hernandez.

Dana White's Zuffa gatecrashed boxing this year with the express aim of crushing the existing promoters and replacing the established titles with a single Zuffa belt. It's hardly surprising then, that boxers who sign up with Zuffa can fall out with the sanctioning bodies.

Matchroom's Eddie Hearn expressed his disdain for Bentley's move by referring to him as a "plonker".

I can understand why Hearn might use such a term when describing his rival, Dana White, but it seems a little harsh to level it a boxer who's simply trying to maximise his earnings. This is prize fighting after all.

Zuffa is well-known for splashing its Saudi-boosted cash around in its bid to take over boxing. But Bentley claims he joined them not for the money, but rather for the plan they had laid out for him. 

He was chasing unification fights with the IBF and WBC middleweight champions, Aaron McKenna and Carlos Adames, who both fight under Zuffa. Unlike Denzel, they were not stripped for joining Dana White.

If he wins on Saturday, those fights should still be there for him, even though he has no belt to bring to the table. But he'll need to survive Mosley Jr's superior firepower to get those opportunities.