Jamel Herring ended his brief retirement and picked up his quickest win in more than a decade.
The former WBO junior lightweight titlist scored two knockdowns en route to a first-round knockout of Nicholas Molina. Herring floored Molina midway through the opening round and again within the final 20 seconds to force the stoppage at 2:49 of round one in their DiBella Entertainment-promoted DAZN show Tuesday evening at Edison Ballroom in New York City.
A night which carried a Veteran’s Day theme—which the proceeds to go to military charities—could not have been more befitting Herring’s triumphant return. He previously stepped away from the game after a humbling ten-round points loss to Jamaine Ortiz last May 21 in Las Vegas, but got the itch and decided to give it another shot.
Recruited for the cause was 1992 Olympic Silver medalist and former WBC bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough, who took over the training reins earlier this summer.
Herring barely had a chance to showcase his work.
Molina (13-1, 5KOs) sported an unbeaten record but versus limited opposition. The 24-year-old from Lowell, Massachusetts was bloodied early in the fight by Herring’s straight left hand and clearly unable to handle the power of his more experienced foe.
Herring landed a left down the middle to floor Molina midway through the round. The visiting lightweight beat the count but spent the balance of the brief affair in retreat. Herring closed the show with a body shot and left hand to floor Molina a second time. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. saw enough and stopped the contest just before the ten-second clapper.
Herring advanced to 24-4 (12KOs) with the win, his first since a sixth-round knockout of Carl Frampton in April 2021 to defend his WBO junior lightweight title in Dubai. The now 38-year-old southpaw from the Coram section of Long Island, New York lost the belt to Shakur Stevenson via tenth-round stoppage just one fight later before the aforementioned defeat to Ortiz which triggered a retirement speech.
The win over Frampton saw Herring make the third successful defense of the WBO 130-pound title he claimed in a twelve-round, unanimous decision win over Masayuki Ito on 2021 Memorial Day weekend. His first defense came on the Saturday preceding Veteran’s Day later that November when he outpointed unbeaten Lamont Roach over twelve rounds in Fresno, California.
Roach is now due to challenge WBA junior lightweight titlist Hector Garcia (16-1, 10KOs; 3 NC) on November 25 in Las Vegas. Herring made a point to casually call out the winner, as well IBF junior lightweight titlist Joe Cordina (17-0, 9KOs)—a fight which serves as the motivation for his recent comeback tour.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox