Bentley’s introduction to boxing was rather unconventional – a fight club run by his brother on his local estate.
A headguard, gloves and a friend were all that were needed for Bentley – who boasts a record of 22 wins, three losses and one draw – to have his first taste of the sport.
But he soon realised that boxing in the streets was a lot different from the real thing.
“When I went to college, I met a friend who boxed and because of what I’d been doing in the streets with my brother, I said, ‘yeah, I can box too’,” Bentley said.
“But I found out it was really different. I remember calling the punches the wrong names. I thought it was left jab, right jab, but it’s obviously a jab and a right hand or a cross.
“I was hitting the bags but had the wrong form and then I was getting battered in sparring. I thought ‘OK, this wasn’t what I was doing’ but I wanted to learn how to do it.”
And then getting to the gym came with its own problems, but nothing the inventive Bentley couldn’t get around with the help of Santander bikes.
“I was short on money, had sold my car and didn’t really want to spend money on buses. I would rent out the Santander bikes,” Bentley said.
“I would put in £2 and pace down the road to make sure I didn’t take more than 30 minutes and then park up and come home. It wouldn’t charge me extra as long as I never went over half an hour.
“Before that, I would walk to the gym. I lived in Battersea and the gym was in Bermondsey.
“I’d just put my music in and people would ask, ‘Oh, you like walking to the gym?’ but I just didn’t have any other choice. When I discovered the bikes, it was a game-changer.”