After two July dates for Jamel Herring were wiped out when he tested positive for COVID-19, Herring is lined up to finally defend his title against Jonathan Oquendo Saturday night in Las Vegas. The WBO junior lightweight world titlist hopes to dispatch Oquendo and position himself for a more lucrative bout against Carl Frampton.
Herring has enjoyed considerable success since he dropped to 130 pounds, where he eventually won his world title against Masayuki Ito in May 2019. He successfully defended that title in November, against Lamont Roach.
But the move down in weight, while important, doesn't tell the full story of Herring's recent success. To break down the changes Herring has made, the importance of Terence Crawford in the equation and what Herring's future looks like if he defeats Oquendo, ESPN boxing analyst and former two-division world champion Timothy Bradley weighs in on everything Herring brings to the table.
Jamel Herring is 34 years old, which is not super old, but he's on the older side for a champion at 130 pounds. The fact that he dropped from 135 to 130 pounds after spending most of his career at 135, and quickly found success, proves Herring has a huge advantage over a lot of guys in that division. He's physically stronger than many of his opponents; he's 5-foot-10; he has a 72-inch reach; and he's a southpaw.
At 130, he's taking advantage of his advantages. He's fighting like a big fighter now, and that poses a threat to any opponent he faces. That's going to be especially evident in his fight with Jonathan Oquendo, who is 5-4.
A 6-inch height advantage? A 5-inch reach advantage? Come on.
I know it's difficult for him to get down to 130. There's no doubt. On that frame and with all of that muscle -- he is shredded. There's no doubt in my mind that making weight can be challenging, especially with his age, and having been at 135 for so long. But since he has dropped to 130, Herring definitely has made the adjustments and has had a lot of success. He has slowed his pace and he has become more of a thinking fighter, more of a calculated boxer. I think that shift in approach has a lot to do with the fact that many of his fights go the distance. And that's OK.
He's definitely a more mature fighter then he was a few years ago. You can tell with his body structure, and the way he's built, that working with Terence Crawford's camp has done big things. They've given him more confidence. I think he's more of a calculated boxer, that's why he has been successful. They slowed him down. He was like a wild horse who didn't know when to trot and when to run. That team has helped transform Herring into a supreme counterpuncher. He's a great boxer. He uses his reach and his range very effectively inside the ring.
Herring has improved his counterpunching ability. He's constantly set, he's taking small steps, dictating the pace, dictating the distance and using his jab. And then any time his opponent attacks, Herring is ready to respond. He's ready to answer that call. He has this Terence Crawford-inspired sequence that I see -- where Herring flips inside or outside with a jab or a right hand, and then he effectively goes down to the body. He goes down to the rib cage. I see that a lot in Crawford fights, and I also see the pattern in Herring's fights. That's one of his bread-and-butter strategies.
I think another thing that helps Herring is that he's now more relaxed in the ring. He's more poised, more refined. Herring has always had the ability to fight well on the inside and also outside. He's a really good body puncher.
If an opponent gets too far to the right, Herring is going to dig to the body, which is a great instinct to have. Being a southpaw simply presents problems for a lot of opponents, and at the end of the day, Herring is a multidimensional fighter, a very difficult fighter to handle, and I think he gets overlooked for a few reasons.
Working with Crawford has helped Herring pick up a lot of skills. And he has developed a lot of the skills and approaches that Crawford uses. They both like to throw the right hook out of the southpaw position, but Herring can get a little bit wide, and when he gets a little bit wide, he's open for opponents to throw a right hand. I'm not saying it's a big problem, I'm just saying sometimes he just comes out a little bit too wide with it and it just creates a lane or an avenue for that sharp, quick right hand down the middle.
What does Herring's future look like if he beats Oquendo?
I think that at this point in his career Herring is motivated because he has to keep that belt. If he wants to continue to make some serious money in this sport, to change his future, to change his family's future, he has to hold onto that belt.
We know Eleider Alvarez, at 36 years old, just lost an opportunity to fight for a world championship. Herring, at 34 and almost 35, knows it's harder to recover, especially with the miles that he has on his body. To win or get another shot at a championship after losing it is really hard.
I think Herring is a top-level guy. I think he has shown that. This guy is an Olympian. He has all of the qualities and abilities to beat a guy like Miguel Berchelt, and to outbox Berchelt. Berchelt is 5-7. Herring will be bigger, a lot bigger, although they have similar reach. Herring being a southpaw will also make things difficult for Berchelt.
Berchelt is a high volume, serious puncher with both hands. He can box a little bit from the outside. He has a really good jab, but it's really difficult to get your jab working against a southpaw. It's just the angle. It's really difficult. If Herring can maintain distance outside, I think he can put up a great fight and possibly even beat the younger guy in Berchelt.
What flaws do you see in Herring that could be exploited?
The area of weakness that I see with Herring happen down the stretch, because sometimes he falls asleep in the later rounds. Sometimes he loses concentration, for whatever reason. Those are the vulnerable spots that I see within his game, when he takes his foot off the gas. When he does that, Herring gets a little complacent with his defense.
He looks for an opportunity to rest, and he shouldn't. Those are the dangerous moments that I see Herring having in most of his fights. Even against a guy like Oquendo, who is smaller, he's still a pressure fighter. Oquendo has a powerful right hand, and even if Herring is winning the fight easily and way up on the scorecards, being complacent just for a split second can open up Herring enough for Oquendo to land a big bomb over the top with the right hand and hurt Herring, and possibly even take him out. You just never know, it's boxing.
We saw Herring fall asleep against Lamont Roach, and Roach almost had him out. Roach hurt Herring with a big shot. Even in the championship fight against Masayuki Ito, there were moments where Ito he was coming on late, and it was because Herring fell asleep at the wheel of the car.
When you're a champion and you want to remain a champion, there's a certain amount of concentration you have to have all the way through to fight from the first round on. You have to keep that concentration because you can't afford to have to make even one big mistake at this level, especially when you are in there with a puncher.
A lot of times we say a punch that we don't see can hurt you. That's definitely true. The punch that you don't see coming will definitely hurt you, because it only takes five pounds of pressure to knock out a grown man. But there was a moment in that Ito fight when Herring did see the punch coming and he still got hurt with the shot.
If you make a mistake and you keep that chin up in the air, you're going to get hit.