WBO Rules out Bentley-Benn Fight Before Hernandez Mandatory

The WBO will not sanction Denzel Bentley defending his middleweight title against Conor Benn before he faces mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez, according to the organisation’s president, Gustavo Olivieri.

Bentley offered Benn a shot at the belt following the 29-year-old’s second-round stoppage defeat by Ryan Garcia at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas lastSaturday. Although Bentley acknowledged that Benn would be jumping the queue, he viewed the all-British contest as the most lucrative option available to him.

Olivieri, however, was unequivocal when BoxingScene asked whether Bentley-Benn could take place next.

“Not happening,” Olivieri said. “Bentley has been mandated to fight Hernandez and the mandatory must be discharged as ordered.”

Bentley was elevated from interim to full WBO champion in July after Janibek Alimkhanuly relinquished the title. A fight with Benn would carry a family connection: Nigel Benn won the same belt by stopping Doug DeWitt in the eighth round in April 1990.

“Conor’s whole thing in the Garcia fight was that he wanted to win the WBC title like his dad did. … Well I hold the actual WBO middleweight title that his dad held,” Bentley told The Ring.

Bentley, 22-3-1 with 18 knockouts, also made no attempt to disguise the financial appeal of facing Benn.

“I’d be happy to fight him because it’s beneficial for me as well,” he said. “It’s not just me giving him an opportunity because he will be giving me an opportunity to make some big money as well. Let’s not get it twisted.

“I think it would be a great story behind it because it is his dad’s old belt and it’s a fight that would raise my profile a lot. I’m at a stage now where I’m a world champion and that will be on my resume forever. Now it’s time to make some money.”

Benn, 25-2 with 14 knockouts, was stopped in his challenge for Garcia’s WBC welterweight title despite not having boxed at 147lbs since beating Chris van Heerden in April 2022. After that victory, Benn dealt with PED charges, returned at junior middleweight and then moved up to 160lbs in 2025 for two fights with Chris Eubank Jnr, splitting their series.

Benn wrote after the Garcia defeat that he was unsure of his next move and did not rule out retirement. Bentley, who sparred with Benn in Majorca before the first Eubank fight, said his fellow Briton had previously spoken about leaving boxing once he had secured his family’s financial future.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t box again,” Bentley said. “He had made good money for him and his family already. And I remember in camp when he said to me that after his two fights with Eubank he can live his life however he wants to live and he will be good forever and that he doesn’t need to box again.”

Hernandez order takes priority

The WBO ordered Bentley to face Hernandez, its No. 1 contender, earlier this month. That decision also prevented Bentley from proceeding with a proposed unification against IBF champion Aaron McKenna, with whom he had agreed terms for a fight later in the year.

Bentley won the interim WBO title by stopping Endry Saavedra in the seventh round at London’s O2 Arena on April 4. When he was elevated to full champion, the WBO ruled that he had inherited the division’s outstanding obligation to Hernandez.

“The mandatory was long overdue,” Olivieri told The Ring. “When Bentley was elevated to champion (in late July), Hernandez was designated mandatory. Bentley inherited the mandatory obligations of the division. Hernandez petitioned the enforcement and the committee reviewed the division’s activity and pending mandatory, thus ordering its enforcement. A determination was made prior to the proposed unification agreement.”

Hernandez, an unbeaten 29-year-old Cuban with a record of 11-0 and nine stoppages, most recently earned a majority decision over Francisco Vernon on August 22. The WBO gave the camps 20 days to reach an agreement and required each side to confirm within 10 days that it was ready, willing and able to proceed. A purse bid can be called if they fail to agree terms.

Bentley’s manager, Martin Bowers, has argued that the nine-month period governing the mandatory should have begun only when Bentley was elevated to full champion. Bentley also believes he should be permitted a voluntary defence first and said discussions with Hernandez’s team and the WBO were continuing, despite Olivieri’s insistence that the mandatory must come next.

“We are still working on that and we haven’t got to the bottom of it yet,” Bentley said. “We’re still in conversation with Yoyo’s team and the WBO so nothing is finalized. We don’t know what the possibility could be between him being next or me being granted the voluntary that the WBO said I could have.

“Either way it is what it is. I will fight anyone, whether that’s Yoyo next and Conor Benn after, we will see.”

Bentley is also a promotional free agent and is speaking with promoters while the mandatory issue is resolved. His proposed fight with Benn and the previously agreed McKenna unification are on hold, with the WBO able to order a purse bid for the Hernandez fight if the two camps cannot reach a deal.