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Former junior lightweight titlist Jamel Herring apparently won’t be on the sidelines for much longer.
Herring, who held the WBO 130-pound title before losing it to Shakur Stevenson by 10th-round stoppage last October, said he will move up to the 135-pound division in his next fight but may go back down again, depending on the opportunities before him. After the loss to Stevenson, there was speculation that Herring could retire.
“We’re looking at May 14th,” Herring said on The 3 Knockdown Rule. “Basically after the Edgar Berlanga fight [on March 19] I will probably be right back in camp with [trainer Brian] ‘BoMac’ [McIntyre] and the team.”
Herring, who is promoted by Top Rank Inc., said he expects to fight a former world champion but would not divulge any more details. Herring previously fought at lightweight for most of his career, but began campaigning at the 130-pound limit in 2018.
“We’re going to lightweight,” Herring said. “We’re trying to get into the ring with a fellow former world champion, and we’re gonna do it on ESPN. I’m just excited to get back in it. As you guys know I started my career at lightweight. I told [Top Rank Vice President of Operations] Carl [Moretti] there’s no issue going with lightweight”
“Top Rank [has been] great to me so far. Get a win here and I can even go back to junior lightweight or stay at lightweight. So there’s a lot of opportunities still out there and that’s all the motivation I need. I just needed the opportunity, and I’m going to take it seriously as possible”
The 36-year-old Herring (23-3-, 11 KOs), a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, revealed that prior to his current plans he was trying to convince rival promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, to get him a fight against Kenichi Ogawa, the IBF 130-pound titlist from Japan.
But Hearn, to Herring’s disappointment, never responded to his direct messages.
“I gotta put my guy Eddie Hearn on the spot because I’ve been reaching out to him personally. And Eddie actually looks at all his message…I wanted the Ogawa fight. And I told Eddie, since he’s working with Ogawa, I [am willing to] travel. You guys know, the [Carl] Frampton fight. I was willing to go to the UK.
“I reached out to Eddie Hearn and he never replies for whatever reason. I said, ‘Listen, if you want to make the fight I have no issues even earning my keep by taking a fight in between to get in the mix. I would even go over to the UK to fight Ogawa.’ Never got a reply. So we went back to the drawing board.”