The WBO has authorized Michael Zerafa and unbeaten Yoenli Hernandez to negotiate for its vacant middleweight title after stripping Denzel Bentley. Zerafa gets a second crack at a world belt because two contenders ranked above him were unavailable. Hernandez gets another set of negotiations after already going through a purse bid for a fight that fell through.
Bentley wanted to fight Shane Mosley Jr. before making his mandatory defense against Hernandez. The WBO rejected his appeal and took the belt, and Bentley is still going ahead with the Mosley fight on Saturday in London. That leaves Hernandez (11-0, 9 KOs) with the same title in front of him and a different opponent to prepare for.
Zerafa (32-5, 20 KOs) was stopped in two rounds in his previous world title shot in 2024. That makes the first few rounds worth watching if this fight gets made. Hernandez has the power to make Zerafa give ground early, and once that starts happening, the Australian will have to give him a reason to hesitate. A jab on the way out or a right hand when Hernandez steps in would do more for Zerafa than circling for three minutes and hoping the pace drops.
Hernandez went the distance in August and won by majority decision, so Zerafa has a recent twelve-round fight to study. I’d like to see how early he’s willing to punch with Hernandez. The longer he waits to find out what he can land, the more rounds he risks giving away. And if he’s behind late, he’ll have to take those chances when his legs are tired, and Hernandez has already had several rounds to get his timing down.
The camps will have 20 days from the formal notice to reach terms before the WBO calls a purse bid. Hernandez has already seen how far a winning bid got him with Bentley. A signed deal with Zerafa would finally give him a fight to train for.
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