Former champion Jamel Herring is keeping himself busy trying to bolster not only his own career but that of his clients.
The recently unretired junior lightweight from Coram, New York, has been fulfilling dual duties as a fighter and manager in recent years.
On the management side, Herring backs a few fighters along with manager Jerry Casarez, including Mikiah Kreps and Mykell Gamble.
To that end, Herring is also actively looking to help guide other fighters in their careers.
In a recent interview, Herring noted that he had reached out to undefeated lightweight contender Frank Martin about possibly working together. Martin, regarded as one of the top fighters in the 135-pound division, has seen his stock suffer after he pulled out of an agreed-upon fight with three-division titlist Shakur Stevenson late last year.
Despite the reputational damage Martin suffered, Herring is confident that his team could help Martin get back on the right track.
“I actually was serious—I think a couple of weeks ago I tried to reach out to Frank Martin,” Herring told FightHype.com. “There’s no bad blood with Frank Martin. I ain’t got no beef with him. Like I said, I’d like to help Frank Martin also to get back into title contention cuz you know he’s still ranked, and he still has a name. I know his name has been through a lot with the whole fallout with the Shakur fight. But again, like I said, business is business and I wouldn’t mind trying to get Frank Martin get back into the picture.”
Martin (18-0, 12 KOs), who resides in Indianapolis, has fought under the Premier Boxing Champions umbrella for the past several years. He is aligned with the promotional company owned by stablemate Errol Spence Jr., one of the top fighters in the PBC. Herring said he was not sure what Martin’s status was with the PBC.
“I don’t know what’s going on with the situation with the PBC—shout out to the PBC—I still got love for [PBC founder] Al Haymon. Al Haymon is the one who put me on in the pros before anyone else did. Shout out to Al Haymon. But again, if I could help Frank Martin fight over here or fight over there, me and my team are more than willing to help Frank Martin get back into the mix and hopefully get that title host that he’s been looking for.”
Herring (24-4, 12 KOs) retired shortly after dropping a decision to Jamaine Ortiz in May of 2022; in the fight previous to that, Herring was stopped by Stevenson in the 10th round of their 130-pound title bout.
He returned to the ring last November with a first-round knockout of Nicholas Molina in the main event at Edison Ballroom in New York City.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.