By Ian S Palmer
WBO Jr. Lightweight Champion Jamel Herring of Coram, New York will be defending his crown against unbeaten former WBO World Featherweight Champion Shakur Stevenson of Newark, New Jersey this Saturday, October 23rd. The 12-rounder from Atlanta, Georgia can be seen on ESPN and ESPN+ in America, on TSN 2 in Canada and on Sky Sports Action in the UK. Stevenson won the vacant WBO interim Junior Lightweight title in June with a 12-round unanimous decision over Jeremia Nakathila. Herring last fought in April when he stopped former world champion Carl Frampton in the sixth round.
The 35-year-old Herring enters the ring with a fine record of 23-2 with 11 Kos. The southpaw and former 2012 American Olympian and U.S. Marine won the title from Masayuki Ito via unanimous decision in May, 2019 and then defended it against Lamont Roach by unanimous decision six months later before beating Jonathan Oquendo via an eighth-round disqualification and then stopping Frampton.
Herring stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a 70-inch reach and has fought 152 rounds since making his pro debut in 2012 at the age of 27. He served two tours of duty in Iraq with the Marines and has average power with a current knockout ratio of 44 per cent. He boxed for the Americans at the 2012 Olympics in London, England, but was beaten in the first round of bouts.
Herring’s first pro loss came at the hands of Denis Shafikov by 10th-round TKO in July, 2016. He then lost two bouts later to Ladarius Miller via an eight-round unanimous decision in August, 2017. Herring has been stopped once and dropped before, but has a pretty sturdy chin. He won the vacant USBA Super Featherweight Crown in September, 2018 with a 10-round unanimous decision over John Vincent Moralde. His biggest wins have been over Frampton, Oquendo, Ito, Roach, Hector Velazquez, Luis Eduardo Florez and Art Hovhannisyan.
The 24-year-old Stevenson is also a southpaw and enters the contest a perfect mark of 16-0 with 8 Ko’s. He had an excellent amateur career as he won a USA Junior National Championship and World Junior Championship in 2013. The next year he captured the USA Youth National, Youth Olympic Games and World Youth Championships. He won the USA Youth National Title in 2015 as well as the Olympic trials and qualifiers.
He then fought at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and won the silver medal as a bantamweight. Since turning pro in 2017 he’s boxed 93 rounds and has also captured the IBF Inter-Continental, WBC Continental Americas, and WBO NABO Featherweight Titles. Stevenson stands 5-feet-7-inches tall and has a 68-inch reach which means he gives up three and four inches to Herring in height and reach respectively.
Stevenson’s certainly not not known as a KO artist by any mean and also has average power with a current knockout ratio of 50 per cent. He possesses fine boxing skills and speed and has plenty of long-term championship potential in multiple weight classes. Along with beating Joet Gonzalez and Alberto Guevara, Stevenson’s also beaten the likes of Christopher Diaz, Jesse Cris Rosales and Juan Tapia.
Prediction…
Herring’s an underestimate boxer in general but he should have opened a few eyes with his excellent performance against Carl Frampton. He’s a solid but unspectacular pro with good skills and a decent chin and is naturally bigger than Stevenson. However, he’s also 11 years older than the challenger. Stevenson’s attitude is usually to not get hit and use his premier boxing skills and footwork to outbox his opponents. He’s quite good at it but unless you’re a purist you may find his fights somewhat on the dull side since he’s rarely been pushed to the limit or even seriously challenge. That should change Saturday night though as I’m expecting the bigger Herring to make him fight. However, I’m also expecting the younger Stevenson to utilize his skills to come way with a victory in an intriguing battle.
