Michael Bentt

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Michael Bentt : biography

September 4, 1964 –

In 1985, he was the recipient of the Sugar Ray Robinson Award as the most outstanding boxer in the New York Golden Gloves tournament that year(among the 85′ class of Golden Gloves champions were future professional champions Riddick Bowe, Kevin Kelly and Junior Jones). Bentt was also a three time member of the United States All-American Amateur Boxing Team.

Bentt counts as one of the greatest moments of his amateur boxing career as avenging an earlier defeat suffered at the hands of then three-time World Amateur Heavyweight Champion, Alexander Yagubkin, at the 1986 World Championships in Reno, Nevada.

Before the loss to Bentt, Yagubkin had been victorious over every American heavyweight he encountered during a three-year period. This included a Moscow decision-win over Bentt’s older brother Winston, himself a member of the United States National Team. Bentt remained undefeated domestically for a four-year period before being denied an Olympic team berth at the 1988 United States Olympic Trials.

In homage to Stephan Johnson, a former amateur teammate at the Bed-Stuy famed (Bedford-Stuyvesant) Boxing Association and fellow Golden Glover who succumbed to injuries suffered in a professional boxing match in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Michael privately presented Stephan’s mother with a pair of his own New York Golden Gloves champion medallions.

Although he was the officially selected team alternate at 201 lbs Bentt declined to serve as an alternate on the 1988 Olympic Boxing Team.

Television appearances

Year Series Episode Role
1985 Saturday Night Live Howard Cosell and Greg Kihn Boxer
2001 The Invisible Man Den of Thieves Prison Guard
2002 Robbery Homicide Division Alton Davis Redux Calvin Tranier
Firefly (TV series) War Stories Viktor
2004 The Guardian Remember Charles Lambert
2005 Medium A Priest, a Doctor and a Medium Walk Into an Execution Chamber Guard
JAG Dream Team Chief Master at Arm
Threshold Pulse Officer
Progeny Detective
2009 Heartland I Make Myself Into Something New Joseph Hanratty
Lincoln Heights Persons of Interest Det.Resendez
Sons Of Anarchy Gilead Dion

Professional career

Bentt turned professional under Emanuel Steward; and was knocked-out in the first round by Jerry Jones in his pro debut. Bentt maintained that neither he nor Steward knew Jones was a southpaw but counts both the devastation and humiliation suffered that night as "hugely valuable and key" to his massive upset of Tommy Morrison some four years later. After a 20-month hiatus following the loss to Jones, Bentt returned to boxing. After a few wins he signed with manager Stan Hoffman, and was trained by former light heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. Bentt then put together a modest winning streak, had a couple of losses, and retired with an 11-2 record.

For a two-year period in the early 1990s served as chief sparring partner for then world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield.

In October 1993, Bentt caused a huge upset with a ninety seven second first round knockout of Tommy Morrison to capture the WBO heavyweight championship. The American-based boxer lost his WBO belt to Herbie Hide at The New Den, Bermondsey, United Kingdom, in 1994. The fight would be his last after being rushed to the hospital and told he could never fight again. Bentt had suffered brain injuries in the loss, and although the injuries did not negatively affect the quality of his thoughts or mental sharpness, it was feared that future impacts to the head could result in permanent long-term injury or even death.