Roy Jones Jr Says Opetaia, Not Usyk, Is Benavidez's Real Nightmare

Everyone assumed the scariest name on David Benavidez's horizon was Oleksandr Usyk. Roy Jones Jr disagrees. According to the Hall of Famer, the fighter who should keep 'El Monstro' up at night is already sitting in the same division: Jai Opetaia, the unbeaten Australian southpaw who's 30-0 with 23 knockouts.

Benavidez, 29 and still perfect at 32-0 (26 KO), holds the WBO and WBC cruiserweight straps after moving up from 168 and blitzing Gilberto Ramírez in six rounds. The plan, per his team, is to add the vacant WBC hardware in December before turning to Opetaia. Jones thinks that second fight is the one that could go sideways.

Why Jones Picks Opetaia

Jones argued that Usyk would actually have been the easier night's work, and that he'd have advised Benavidez to take the Ukrainian instead. His reasoning is stylistic: Opetaia is younger, stronger and carries genuine shock in his punches. That last part matters. Jones pointed out that Opetaia looked sharp in his most recent outing and brings the kind of power that changes fights in a single exchange.

The whole thing, Jones said, comes down to one unanswered question — can Benavidez take Opetaia's punch? If he can, Benavidez's absurd work rate takes over and he's in the driver's seat. If he can't, Jones warned, he's in serious trouble. It's a fair concern. Benavidez fights forward and eats leather to land his own, and Opetaia hasn't been beaten in 30 pro fights for nothing.

Where This Is Headed

This isn't idle talk. Opetaia — the world's top 200-pounder even after being stripped of his IBF belt — and Benavidez faced off in the ring after Opetaia's latest defense and openly agreed to fight. Organizers are eyeing 2027, with Las Vegas the frontrunner for the venue.

As for Usyk, the 25-0 lineal heavyweight king looks set to retire before Benavidez ever climbs to his weight class. So the megafight fans keep circling may never happen. The one that will — two undefeated cruiserweights with a combined 49 stoppages — might be the better matchup anyway. Jones certainly thinks so.