06/07/2026
Roy Jones names the one man who would’ve punished Usyk’s performance against Verhoeven: “He’d beat him”
The heavyweight landscape is completely shaking, and boxing royalty has just thrown massive fuel onto the fire! Legendary former four-division world champion Roy Jones Jr. didn't pull a single punch when analyzing Oleksandr Usyk's highly debated, razor-thin performance against kickboxing titan Rico Verhoeven. Instead of praising the tactical survival, Jones boldly named the "Mexican Monster" David Benavidez as the one unstoppable force who would have absolutely punished Usyk’s mistakes, confidently declaring, “He’d beat him.” Jones is urging the newly crowned multi-belt cruiserweight champion to bypass a Dmitry Bivol showdown and jump straight to heavyweight to take advantage of an aging 39-year-old Usyk. It’s an insanely bold take given Benavidez started his career as a super middleweight, but RJJ knows a thing or two about history—having famously jumped from light heavyweight to capture a heavyweight world title himself back in 2003. This explosive prediction has fans deeply divided over whether Benavidez’s high-volume pressure translates to the ultimate weight class. Is Roy Jones spot on, or is he setting Benavidez up for disaster?