Jamel Herring is set to face his biggest test yet. Carl Frampton is poised to make history.
Herring will defend his junior lightweight title against Frampton, a former two-division titleholder and 2016 Fighter of the Year, on Feb. 27 in London (ESPN+), according to multiple reports.
Herring (22-2, 10 KOs) will be making his third defense of the belt he won by easily outpointing Masayuki Ito in May 2019. He defeated Lamont Roach by a unanimous decision the following November and beat Jonathan Oquendo by disqualification after eight rounds because of repeated head butts this past September.
The Oquendo fight was scheduled for July but it was postponed twice because Herring tested positive for COVID-19 two times.
Frampton, who won titles at 122 and 126 pounds, will be attempting to become the first fighter from Northern Ireland to become a three-division champ.
The Herring-Frampton fight was originally planned for June in Belfast but it was pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m really excited that the fight is finally happening,” Herring said. “More importantly it’ll be an honor to share the ring with a true warrior and class act such as Carl Frampton. It may be the biggest fight of my career to date, but I’ll be more than ready for the task ahead.
“There’s a lot on the line, and I know he’s aiming to make history. But he’ll have to wait another day because I plan on returning home with my title in hand.
“I’ve been training very hard for this fight, and went back to what got me to my world title from sparring the likes of Terence Crawford and other top talent across the nation. I can’t wait to put on a great show!”
Said Frampton (28-2, 16 KOs): “I’m delighted to finally get a date nailed down for this fight that has now been talked about for over a year. I have the upmost respect for Jamel as a fighter and as a man.
“But there is nobody stopping me on becoming the island of Ireland’s only ever three weight world champ, one of Britain’s only ever three-weight world champions and potentially have one foot in the Hall of Fame.”