Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. said he wanted to cancel the fight for his son, Jose Jr. after Jermell Charlo came in 3.4 lbs over the 163 lb catchweight limit during today’s weigh-in for their co-feature fight this Saturday night.
(Photo credit: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Is Benavidez Sr. a hypocrite?
Interestingly, Jose Sr. complained about how dangerous is that Jermall came in overweight. Yet, he had no problem when his son, David Benavidez, came in 2 3/4 lbs overweight for his title defense against Roamer Alexis Angulo in August 2020.
Benavidez weighed in at 170 3/4 lbs and stopped Angulo in the eighth round. The size difference between Benavidez & Angulo was huge the night of the fight.
Benavidez Jr. still wanted fight to go ahead
Jose Sr. says his son Benavidez Jr. (28-2-1, 19 KOs) told him he still wanted his ten-round co-feature fight with Jermall (32-0, 22 KOs) to proceed. As such, Charlo will pay an unspecified weight penalty based on the 3.4 lbs that he was over the limit.
It would have hurt Benavidez Jr’s career if he canceled the fight because it would send a message to other promoters that he’s someone who can’t be worked with if his opponents come in over the limit.
Moreover, he’ll likely never get another fight offered to him as good as this one, as he’s not popular nor a great talent. He’s just a fringe contender with a popular brother, David Benavidez.
Benavidez Jr. got this fight because Jermall had been out of the ring for 28 months and needed a tune-up. None of the world champions at 154, 160, or 168 are going to use Benavidez Jr. as a tune-up, especially after he loses to Jermall on Saturday night.
“I’m upset because we had a contract at 160 to fight Jose Benavidez against Charlo. We agreed to that, then they came out three weeks later, and they couldn’t do the weight,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to Fighthype, reacting to Jermall Charlo coming in 3.4 lbs over the 163-lb catchweight limit for his fight against Jose Benavidez.
“It’s a lot of money. I can’t say how much, but I did that so he doesn’t do it again, and hopefully, he learns from this,” said Jose Sr. about the weight penalty that Charlo will have to pay for coming in overweight for the catchweight clash.
“I think it’s dangerous. It’s a lot of pounds, too many pounds,” said Benavidez Sr, who sounded like a hypocrite, given that David Benavidez came in nearly three lbs overweight for his fight with Roamer Alexis Angulo in 2020.
“Junior came out at 161. That’s a lot. He wants to do it, and I’m here to support him. I’m here for whatever he wants. If it was for me, I would cancel that. Junior trained so hard and is super motivated. We were sparring a guy that is a cruiserweight. So that’s why I have the confidence, and that’s why I said, ‘Let’s do it.’
“He’s scared. I think he was trying to find a way out. He didn’t know he got himself into a dangerous fight. They thought they were coming to get a Junior that is worn out, a Junior that was finished, a one-legged guy like a lot of people said.
“Junior is super motivated. He worked his a** off. I’ve never seen him train like he trained for this fight. So, he [Jermall] seen that in his eyes and was trying to find a way out.
“He’ll be good. Charlo will be a little bit heavier, but we sparred big guys, so it’s not a problem. We sparred David [Benavidez], we sparred cruiserweight, so it’ll be good
“They [Team Jermall] wanted to do 167, 165. I said that was too much. Junior is 154, but he walks at 160. We agreed to fight at 163, and then he does this. Almost four pounds over. The good thing, I knew he was going to do something like that.
“So, I said for every pound he’s over, we’ll charge him a lot of money. The money is not a problem, though. The thing is, I don’t want him to do it again. I wanted to cancel that fight, but Junior is a f***** warrior. He’s a monster.
“He trained so hard; he’s super motivated. There’s no way he was going to cancel the fight. He wants to give him a good fight, and that’s what happened,” said Benavidez Sr.
