Reports: Jamel Herring to defend title against Jonathan Oquendo on July 2

First Shakur Stevenson and Jessie Magdaleno on separate cards. Now Jamel Herring.

The junior lightweight titleholder will defend his belt against Jonathan Oquendo on a July 2 Top Rank card in Las Vegas on ESPN, assuming the Nevada State Athletic Commission approves the show, according to multiple reports. It would be the first post-coronavirus-lockdown title fight in the U.S.

The NSAC on Wednesday approved the June 9 and June 11 Top Rank cards featuring Stevenson and Magdaleno, respectively.

Herring (21-2, 10 KOs) rebounded from losses at lightweight to Denis Shafikov and Ladarius Miller to easily outpoint Masayuki Ito to win a junior lightweight title in May of last year. The 34-year-old outpointed Lamont Roach in his first defense in November.

Oquendo (31-6, 19 KOs) rebounded from a decision loss to Roach in May of last year to shut out Charles Huerta in November.

Herring had been expected to face Carl Frampton in Ireland this summer but that fight was called off because of the pandemic. He said it was important for him to fight as soon as possible.

“You can spar and do whatever workouts at home all you want, but if you’re not getting hit with those 8-ounce gloves without head gear, it’s a huge difference,” Herring told ESPN recently. “Which is why I decided with Top Rank to go out there and stay busy. I could’ve stayed home, as well, and waited for Carl Frampton, but the fact is, we don’t know how long this pandemic is going to last.

“If I have the opportunity to go out and knock the ring rust off myself, why not use the time to do that?”