“When I saw him at the weigh-in, when I saw the picture of his face after the weigh-in, he looked like a guy that pulled down to make 200,” said Roy Jones Jr. to All The Smoke podcast about David Benavidez.
This particular statement garnered considerable attention because Roy was not characterizing a fighter who was naturally ascending through weight classes. Instead, he was portraying an individual who appeared to be rigorously shedding mass merely to achieve the cruiserweight division limit.
Such an observation holds considerable weight, coming from Roy, an individual who himself progressed through multiple divisions, ultimately competing at heavyweight during his illustrious Hall of Fame career. Roy promptly drew a parallel between Benavidez’s current situation and his own historical journey.
“I was a guy who had never been up to 200 before in my life when I fought for the heavyweight title. I couldn’t make 195. I couldn’t make 190,” said Jones Jr.
For numerous boxing enthusiasts, Roy’s remarks corroborate long-standing assertions about Benavidez competing significantly below his inherent body size. Benavidez appeared exceptionally large throughout his super middleweight tenure at 168 pounds and maintained a visibly greater physique than most opponents even after transitioning to 175 pounds.
Now, subsequent to hearing Roy suggest that Benavidez looked depleted while reaching 200 pounds, a segment of the fanbase believes the nature of the discussion has once again shifted.
Roy even put forth the notion that Benavidez might eventually follow the very same historically significant path that Jones Jr. himself once carved.
“This guy could be the next guy that was once super middleweight champ that could become heavyweight champ,” said Jones Jr, talking about Benavidez.
This concept is no longer universally dismissed as mere speculation within the boxing community. Veteran commentator Jim Lampley had previously indicated that Benavidez possessed the physical attributes suitable for heavyweight competition in the future, and Roy’s recent observations have only intensified that ongoing discourse.
Benavidez’s recent advocacy for a 190-pound catchweight bout against Dmitry Bivol had already drawn criticism from followers who perceived it as an indication of his discomfort at the 175-pound limit. Roy’s comments regarding Benavidez “pulling down” to meet the cruiserweight requirement now lend even greater credibility to these suspicions.
The more profound inquiry revolves around the extent to which Benavidez intends to pursue this trajectory. Cruiserweight already seems physically manageable for him, and Roy overtly proposed that Oleksandr Usyk should be the objective, rather than a potentially risky confrontation with Jai Opetaia.
At this juncture, the prospect of Benavidez ultimately campaigning in the heavyweight division no longer appears as improbable as it once did.
