Boxing legend makes great case for Benavidez vs. Usyk fight
Winning affords you a lot of options, and David Benavidez not only won last Saturday but he won in style, so he has a charcuterie board full of options to choose from.
This week, Boxing Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr. made the best case for Benavidez's next opponent that I've heard so far.
David Benavidez put on a show Saturday night, knocking out undefeated unified cruiserweight champion Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez in the sixth round to take his WBO and WBA titles and cap off a memorable night of boxing on Cinco de Mayo weekend.
As a -550 betting favorite, the outcome of the fight wasn't surprising, but the way Benavidez stopped Zurdo put the world on notice that there is a new American star on the horizon.
Benavidez battered Zurdo from the opening bell, taking advantage of his opponent's lack of head movement to score right hands right down the middle of the chute. He hit him with six and eight-punch combinations that no person his size should be able to throw. Zurdo's left eye was swollen shut, preventing him from seeing and ending the fight early.
David Benavidez became the first male boxer to win world titles at 168 lbs, 175 lbs, and 200 lbs.
Roy Jones Jr. picks David Benavidez's next opponent
As for who David Benavidez will fight next, the natural option is Dmitry Bivol, the Russian light heavyweight who holds three of the four major belts in the division. Benavidez holds the other. The two are natural rivals, and Benavidez called Bivol number one on his "hit list" after the fight Saturday.
But to do that, he would have to move back down in weight to the 175 lb lightweight limit. He fought Zurdo at 200 lbs.
Another option is Jai Opetaia, the former IBF cruiserweight champion who was stripped of his title after he signed with Zuffa Boxing. While Opetaia holds the Zuffa cruiserweight title, Benavidez has said he isn't interested in fighting for that belt. Jai also holds The Ring magazine's cruiserweight title, so maybe that could entice him, but Opetaia doesn't seem like his priority right now.
The dark-horse choice for Benavidez is a fight with unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. And that's the person Roy Jones Jr wants to see him fight.
At first blush, it seems crazy. Though he formerly fought at the 200 lb cruiserweight limit earlier in his career, Usky is now firmly a heavyweight, currently fights at about 230 lbs and clearly has enough power to knock out some of the biggest men in the sport.
But on the other hand, if Benavidez were to go up to heavyweight, then whatever he did there would be gravy, according to Jones Jr. If he loses, so what? He lost to a much bigger fighter who just happens to be near the top of the pound-for-pound rankings. But if he wins, he cements his legacy as one of the greatest fighters of this era.
It's all benefit and little downside (besides the punishment he could face in the ring, but Benavidez doesn't seem to be scared of that).
"It is not smart for David Benavidez to give Jaia Opetaia a shot at his name right now because he is hot right now," Jones said. "You go up and fight Usyk while you're hot, and it makes sense. You can always come back down and fight Opetaia if you want to. If you lose to Usyk, the Opetaia fight is still there. But if you lose to Opetaia, the Usyk fight is gone."
Roy Jones also pointed out that there is way more money and prestige in an Usyk fight, so that's the fight he believes Benavidez should take.
In the past, Benavidez has called Roy Jones Jr. one of the greats, and he looks up to him as a mentor. If that's true, then Benavidez should give some serious thought to the wisdom Jones is imparting.
Benavidez's name is hotter than it's ever been. Why not go big?
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This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 6:18 AM.