Roy Jones Jr has urged David Benavidez to follow in his footsteps, rather than face Dmitry Bivol in an undisputed light-heavyweight clash.
‘The Mexican Monster’ comes off a sixth-round finish over Gilberto Ramirez, whom he dethroned to become a three-division world champion earlier this month.
But despite claiming the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles, Benavidez has expressed his interest in moving back down to 175lbs, where he still holds the WBC belt.
This would be in pursuit of a showdown with unified champion Bivol, who must first defeat IBF mandatory challenger Michael Eifert on May 30.
The Russian has not fought since outpointing Artur Beterbiev in February 2025, when he exacted his revenge by majority decision to become the undisputed king.
Bivol then vacated his WBC title after deciding to undergo back surgery, enabling Benavidez to be elevated from ‘interim’ to full champion.
Instead of moving back down to light-heavyweight, though, Jones would much rather see Benavidez test himself at heavyweight, just like he did against John Ruiz in 2003.
Speaking with Pro Boxing Fans, the pound-for-pound legend said a shot at Oleksandr Usyk, who still holds the WBC, IBF and WBA titles, is the only fight that makes sense for him.
“That’s the only fight for him right now; that’s the only fight I want to see him in.
“You beat everybody else in all the other divisions, [so] go up and fight Usyk. That’s the best fight for him.”
🗣️ "𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧'𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗘𝗘 𝗛𝗜𝗠 𝗜𝗡" 🤷♂️
‼️ @RealRoyJonesJr CALLS FOR @Benavidez300 to fight @usykaa 👀 pic.twitter.com/pcSxWeol3n
— Pro Boxing Fans (@ProBoxingFans) May 14, 2026
While Benavidez has expressed his desire to challenge Usyk at heavyweight, he has said that he will not be rushing up in weight anytime soon, and it is, therefore, far more likely that his next assignment will arrive against Bivol.
It then becomes a case of whether Usyk remains in the sport long enough to face the 29-year-old, who may end up fighting a different heavyweight champion.
