Denzel Bentley is set to lose his WBO middleweight title after allowing the deadline to commit to mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernández to pass, leaving his November 7 fight against Shane Mosley Jr. as his next bout.

WBO president Gustavo Olivieri told EverythingBoxing’s Darshan Desai that the organization received no formal communication from Bentley’s team confirming he would go ahead with the Hernández defense within the allotted 24 hours. According to Desai, the WBO will now strip him.

Bentley has already signed to face Mosley Jr. in his Zuffa Boxing debut. That looks like a more winnable fight than defending against Hernández, although Bentley would enter it without the championship he had hoped to keep.

Hernández (11-0, 9 KOs) would be a dangerous fight for Bentley, with the power to knock him out. A loss like that would be a rough way to begin his time with Zuffa.

Bentley would have a chance against Hernández, but this would be a dangerous defense against a challenger who has been finishing most of his opponents. From a career standpoint, accepting the loss of his belt and going ahead with Mosley Jr. is understandable. He keeps his scheduled fight and avoids the immediate possibility of a punishing defeat.

The WBO cannot justify letting him keep the belt while pursuing a side attraction. Hernandez did the work to earn his mandatory ranking, and he shouldn’t be put on hold just because Bentley decided to take a different path.

Vito Mielnicki Jr. could step into the opposite corner against Hernandez for the vacant belt. Mielnicki holds the number two spot in the WBO ratings just behind the Cuban, positioning the American contender as the frontrunner if he accepts an invitation to fight for the strap. Sanctioning body officials have not made an official announcement regarding the pairing.

Bentley can still get off to a good start with Zuffa by beating Mosley, but he’ll be giving up his world title to take the easier fight.

Hernández would then get his shot at the vacant belt against someone prepared to face him.