Jamel Herring realized a dream by winning a world title. Now it’s about legacy. And Carl Frampton, he believes, will help in that regard.
The 35-year-old junior lightweight champ defends against Frampton, 34, on Saturday at Caesars Palace Bluewaters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (ESPN+).
It will be Herring’s third – and toughest, at least on paper – defense of the belt he won by easily outpointing Masayuki Ito in May 2019, after which he defeated Lamont Roach (UD) in November 2019 and Jonathan Oquendo (DQ) this past September.
A victory over the two-division titleholder and 2016 Fighter of the Year from Northern Ireland would be the biggest of his career.
“Yes, a win over Frampton would be a career-defining milestone,” Herring said. “You want to win a world title. OK, we win the world title. Well, what’s next? We had to successfully defend our title to be considered a real champion.
“I’m getting to the conversation of, ‘Oh, you want to face the other champions and the other big names,’ and Carl Frampton is a two-division world champion. He has done great things in his career.”
“Since November 2019, this fight has been talked about, and this is my moment. This is what I’ve worked for. This is what I’ve been asking for. This is a big fight for me now.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo1dCGdJq6M
Herring (22-2, 10 KOs) had a rough 2020.
His defense against Oquendo was postponed twice after the titleholder tested positive for COVID-19. Then the fight itself was ugly, as an overmatched Oquendo was disqualified for repeated head butts after eight one-sided rounds. That was Herring’s only fight of the year.
So it’s no wonder that Herring seems unusually motivated going into the fight with Frampton (28-2, 16 KOs). The coronavirus and a difficult year are behind him and he has the fight he has coveted.
And he couldn’t care less that he has had to travel more than 7,000 miles for the fight. It seems nothing fazes the former soldier.
“I don’t have any doubts with the fight happening in Dubai because I’m a U.S. Marine,” he said. “I’ve fought everywhere, in terms of the battlefield or in the ring. If you guys remember, I was willing to face him in Belfast with no issue, in front of thousands of people.
“I was willing to give him that home field advantage because I wanted the fight that bad that I didn’t really care where the fight was at. As long as we had a ring and some gloves, I didn’t care.”
Now he just has to have his hand raised.
“The way I win this fight is just being me, the Jamel that won the world championship,” he said. “I have to bring that hunger back. I feel like my back is against the wall, even as the champion.”
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