Roy Jones Jr has urged David Benavidez to follow in his footsteps and move up to heavyweight, rather than risk his unbeaten record against a lower-profile champion.
The 29-year-old comes off a dominant display against Gilberto Ramirez, dethroning the Mexican earlier this month to become a three-division world champion.
As a result of his sixth-round stoppage victory, Benavidez claimed the WBO and WBA world cruiserweight titles while still holding his WBC strap at 175lbs.
He therefore has the opportunity to remain at 200lbs or drop back down to light-heavyweight, where he is actively pursuing an undisputed clash with unified champion Dmitry Bivol.
Alternatively, though, Benavidez could move up to heavyweight for a potential showdown with Oleksandr Usyk, who takes on Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven this Saturday.
Should he defeat Verhoeven, as most expect him to, then the Ukrainian is likely to consider Benavidez a possible opponent for his next outing.
As far as pound-for-pound legend Jones is concerned, this represents a far smarter option for Benavidez than to remain at cruiserweight and face Jai Opetaia, for instance.
While speaking with ALL THE SMOKE FIGHT, Jones strongly suggests that ‘The Mexican Monster’ should move up to heavyweight sooner than later.
“It is not smart for David Benavidez to give Jai Opetaia a shot at his name right now, because he’s hot right now.
“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’s still there. If you lose to Opetaia, the Usyk fight’s gone, so you’ve got to be smart about this. Go take Usyk while the iron is hot.”
While Benavidez has expressed an interest in eventually jumping up to heavyweight, it appears that his most desirable challenge would come against Bivol, who must first defend his three world titles against Michael Eifert on May 30.
