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.
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.
Why wasn’t Jose Sr. making a big deal about ‘The Mexican Monster’ coming in overweight like he did today with Jermall?
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.
Jermall tried to have weight increased
“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.
If Jose Sr. knew that Jermall would have a problem with the weight a long time ago, why is he so upset about it now? Jermall had already told him he needed it increased, and he rejected the idea.
Why didn’t he do it? They could have negotiated the weight back then rather than waiting until now, and it wouldn’t be a big deal. It’s sad that Jose Sr. didn’t agree to have the weight adjusted a long time ago because Jermall is the star in this fight, not Benavidez Jr. He’s just the B-side opponent, and he should have agreed to have the weight moved.
“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.
Jose Sr. on Charlo missing weight: “It’s dangerous”
“I think it’s dangerous. It’s a lot of pounds, too many pounds,” said Benavidez Sr.
If It’s dangerous, why didn’t Jose Jr. make a big production about it when David Benavidez came in overweight for the Roamer Alexis Angulo? At least he could try and stay consistent.
“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.'”
It’s a good thing that Benavidez Jr. didn’t listen to his father Jose Sr., because he’d likely never get another opportunity to fight a big-name fighter like Jermall ever again.
Benavidez Jr. was beaten last year by a washed Danny Garcia, and he deserved a loss in his fight against unknown second-tier fighter Francisco Emanuel Torres in 2021 in their fight, which was scored a ten round draw.
“He’s scared. I think he was trying to find a way out. He didn’t know he got himself into a dangerous fight,” said Jose Sr. 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.
Jermall definitely isn’t scared of Benavidez Jr. If anything; he seems amused by him because he’s likely never faced a marginal fighter that was this cocky.
Usually, when fighters are at the level of Benavidez Jr. in terms of talent or lack thereof, they’re more reserved when facing opposition way above their ability.
The fact that Benavidez Jr. is acting like he’s a world-class talent is amusing to Jermall, who has clearly enjoyed the build-up. Today was a perfect example of that. When Benavidez Jr. feigned like he was going to attack Jermall during their face-off, he fell back like he was petrified. It was funny watching Jermall going into theatrics.
Jermall to be fined a lot of money
“Junior is super motivated. He worked his a** off. I’ve never seen him train like he trained for this fight,” said Jose Sr. “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.” said Jose Sr.
If Benavidez Jr. sparred cruiserweight-sized fighters like David Benavidez, why is Jose Sr. making a big production about Jermall Charlo coming in a few pounds overweight today?
He should see it as no big deal, especially given that he’d asked him to have the weight-adjusted a long time ago and was refused.
“They [Team Jermall] wanted to do 167, 165. I said that was too much. Junior is 154, but he walks at 160,” said Jose Sr. “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.”
Jermall has never missed weight before in his 15-year professional career, so why would have need to have a lesson taught to him? Also, why does Jose Sr. even care about teaching him a lesson? It’s not like he’s going to fight Benavidez Jr. ever again.
After Saturday night, they’ll go their separate ways, and Jermall will head towards a lucrative fight with Canelo. Jose Jr. will try to pick up the pieces of what’s left of his career and do the best that he can.
“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.
