SRL paid his dues and was just maximizing his earning potential by the time Benn was a viable opponent. A fight with Benn would have been more embarrassing than theCamacho fight, and he knew that.
Even if he ducked Benn, he was not in his weight class, the damaged retina he suffered after the Hearns fight and didn't he also dabble with cocaine in the 80s? And still fighter of the 80s decade. Nice.
I never realized Benn was a Welterweight contender in the early 80's, because otherwise SRL could not have ducked him.