The important development is not Yoenli becoming the mandatory challenger. WBO president Gustavo Olivieri publicly confirmed that status on August 23, stating that Bentley would receive one voluntary defense before facing the Cuban. Yoenli’s appeal changes that arrangement. The WBO now intends to send Bentley directly into the mandatory defense because the obligation dates back to Janibek’s reign. Vacating the championship and elevating Bentley did not erase it.
That distinction was lost in BoxingScene’s headline, which presents Hernandez’s mandatory position as something new. The exclusive portion is that his
