Jamel Herring hopes to give it another go next month.
Jamel Herring hopes to give it another go next month.
The junior lightweight titleholder has had his title defense against Jonathan Oquendo canceled twice after testing positive for COVID-19 each time, the last time being Monday, the day before the next installment of Top Rank’s summer series inside the MGM Grand bubble in Las Vegas.
Herring told Yahoo Sports that tests have shown that he has coronavirus antibodies and he believes the latest result was a false positive.
Mikaela Mayer made the same claim after she tested positive and was removed from the June 9 show. Her fight with Helen Joseph replaced Herring-Oquendo as the main event Tuesday.
Herring is in quarantine in Las Vegas but will go home to Cincinnati before resuming training, Yahoo Sports reported. He would have three consecutive camps if he gets the date in August.
“Before I was allowed to travel here, I had to take a test and I passed it, because you’re not allowed to fly if you’re positive. So I get here and a day later I’m positive? Come on.”
He went on: “It’s going to be tough [with back-to-back-to-back] camps, but I’ve never been afraid of hard work. I just want to get to that first bell. I am trying to keep a positive attitude. There is a lot going on in this world and people have a lot of issues they’re having to deal with.
“I’ve had my problems, but it could be worse. I’m fine and it won’t be long before I’m back, so I will be grateful for that.”
The Jamel Herring-Jonathan Oquendo title fight scheduled for tomorrow was canceled because Herring tested positive for COVID-19 again.
The title fight between Jamel Herring and Jonathan Oquendo scheduled for tomorrow was canceled because Herring tested positive for COVID-19 a second time, Top Rank announced.
The Herring-Oquendo fight was originally scheduled for July 2 but it was postponed after Herring’s initial positive test. Herring reportedly recovered and tested negative, which allowed the fight to be rescheduled for tomorrow inside the MGM Grand bubble in Las Vegas.
Herring said he was surprised to have tested positive a second time.
“I’m extremely disappointed that I’m not going to be able to fight tomorrow night,” Herring said in a press release. “As I’ve shared previously, I tested positive for COVID-19 on June 22 after exhibiting symptoms. I quarantined and recovered as directed by my doctor. I then retested on July 3 and my test was negative, so this result is a complete surprise.
“I was fully prepared to make my second title defense tomorrow night. I am hoping that my team and Top Rank can reschedule this fight soon. Thank you for all the support everyone has shown. I can’t wait to get back in the ring and perform.”
The 10-round junior lightweight bout between 2016 U.S. Olympian Mikael Mayer and Helen Joseph has been elevated to the main event.
The ESPN telecast will include three other fights: Clay Collard vs. Lorawnt-T Nelson, six rounds, middleweights; Ruben Cervera vs. Clay Burns, six rounds, lightweights; and Javier Martinez vs. Jonathan Burrs, four rounds, middleweights.
The main event between Jamel Herring and Jonathan Oquendo scheduled for tomorrow (July 14) on ESPN is off for undisclosed reasons.
The main event between Jamel Herring and Jonathan Oquendo scheduled for tomorrow (July 14) on ESPN is off.
The Athletic is reporting that Herring, set to defend junior lightweight title, was forced to withdraw for an undisclosed reason.
Top Rank, the promoter, could elevate the 10-round women’s junior lightweight bout between 2016 U.S. Olympian Mikaela Mayer and Helen Joseph to the featured fight inside the MGM Grand bubble in Las Vegas.
The Herring-Oquendo fight was originally scheduled for July 2 but it was postponed after Herring tested positive for COVID-19. Herring subsequently recovered and tested negative virus, which allowed the fight to be rescheduled.
“I am back, healthy and 100 percent ready to defend my world title,” he told ESPN only a few days ago.
Some members of Herring’s team had suggested that he wait to come back or fight 10 rounds, instead of 12. However, he insisted on going through with the title defense … until today, that is.
Mayer (12-0, 5KOs) also tested positive and was pulled from Top Rank’s June 9 card as a result. However, it was later determined that it was a false positive.
Thus, her fight was rescheduled for tomorrow and listed as the co-feature. Joseph (17-4-2, 10 KOs) is a respected fighter from Nigeria.
Other bouts on the card: Clay Collard vs. Lorawnt T Nelson, six rounds, middleweights; Luis Melendez vs. Edward Vazquez, eight round, featherweights; Ruben Cervera vs. Clay Burns, six rounds, lightweights; and William Villa vs. Eduardo Sanchez, four rounds, junior lightweights.
Jonathan Oquendo was ready to retire from boxing as recently as last year. Now he’s fighting for a world title.
Jonathan Oquendo was thinking seriously about retirement as recently as 2018.
The Puerto Rican slugger was in his mid-30s, had been fighting hard since 2004 and, most important, it seemed as if meaningful opportunities had dried up. He had fought only once in almost three years after he lost a decision to then-featherweight beltholder Jesus Cuellar in 2015, his only major title shot.
Then, with the backing of co-promoter Miguel Cotto Promotions and Golden Boy, the crowd-pleaser was afforded one more run at glory.
Now, at 36, he’s only days away from his second opportunity to fight for a major belt. He faces junior lightweight titleholder Jamel Herring on Tuesday night inside the MGM Grand bubble in Las Vegas.
“I didn’t know I would get this opportunity,” Oquendo told Boxing Junkie through a translator. “I was about to say goodbye to the sport. I thought I only had a few fights left. To get this opportunity is marvelous.”
Oquendo (31-6, 19 KOs) has the reputation of being a durable, reliable fringe contender who will give his all every time he steps through the ropes but come up short.
Jonathan Oquendo (left) shut out Charle Huerta in November, his most recent fight. Kyle Monroe / Hoganphotos-Golden Boy
The product of Bayamon has a few notable victories – a decision over Jhonny Gonzalez that earned him a shot at Cuellar stands out – but he hasn’t fared well in his biggest fights, including setbacks against Juan Manuel Lopez, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., Abner Mares and (in May of last year) Lamont Roach.
Oquendo didn’t fight for 19 months after the Cuellar setback, stopped journeyman Orlando Rizo and then didn’t fight again for another 13 months. It was around this time that he thought it was time to move on.
It was also around this time that Cotto, the former four-division champion, convinced Oquendo that he had more to give and they geared up for one more run at a title.
Oquendo, feeling strong at 130 pounds, won three fights in four months in Puerto Rico, which earned him a chance to face Roach in a title eliminator at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Oquendo gave a strong performance but ended up on the wrong end of a disputed unanimous decision that was booed by the crowd.
Oquendo didn’t fret. He proved to himself that night that he was still capable of competing at a high level. Roach went on to lose a wide decision to Herring in November while Oquendo shut out Charles Huerta in a stay-busy fight the same month.
Oquendo (right) came up short against Lamont Roach but felt like the winner. Tom Hogan / Hoganphotos-Golden Boy
“I felt like the winner in [the Roach] fight. And I was feeling like my moment would come soon,” he said.
It would, although no one could’ve predicted how it would arrive.
Oquendo agreed in late May – amid the coronavirus pandemic – to face Herring on July 2 inside the bubble at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The challenger, thrilled about the opportunity, went right to work to prepare for what might be his last opportunity to realize his dream of becoming a world champion. Then, on June 23, came the news: Herring had tested positive for COVID-19 and the fight was postponed.
Oquendo’s first thoughts were with Herring and his family. “That was most important,” he said. At the same time, he was worried. When would Herring be able to fight? And would Oquendo still be in the picture when he could?
It wouldn’t be the first time a scheduled fight fell through completely over something unforeseen.
“I was worried,” Oquendo said. “An opportunity to fight for a world title isn’t something given to just anybody. I felt it was slipping through my fingers. I was also worried about the health of Herring and his family.
“Thank God he’s better, thank God everything is set.”
Herring (21-2, 10 KOs) raised some eyebrows – including those of his own team members – when he announced he would go through with the fight only three weeks after testing positive. However, he recovered, follow-up tests came back negative and insists he’ll be ready to defend his title.
Will it be the same old story for Oquendo? A valiant, but futile effort?
The underdog is confident things will be different. He feels particularly strong after he moved up to 130 pounds permanently. And he’s in a good place in his life mentally and emotionally, including his finances. He likes his chances.
“I feel more mature, more intelligent,” he said. “And with the money I’ve been making my mind is clear. I’m not a kid anymore. I’m stronger, wiser at 36 than I was at 25. I think of boxing more as a business now. I’m in a better place now.
“[Herring] has a lot of good qualities. He boxes well, his height, his length. He has lots of advantages. I have one too: Faith in my training I’ve had. I’ll be ready for anything he brings.”
And if Oquendo wins? If he reaches the pinnacle of the sport 14 years into his pro career?
“It would mean everything,” he said. “My whole life, since I was very young, my dream was to become world champion. I’ll dedicate this to those who have believed in me, my fans, my family. It has been their dream too.
“When at 35 I was thinking of saying good bye … to become champion would be amazing.”
Jamel Herring will defend his junior lightweight title against Jonathan Oquendo only three weeks after testing positive for COVID-19.
All fighters are brave. Jamel Herring might be taking it step further.
Herring, the junior lightweight titleholder and former U.S. Marine, tested positive for COVID-19 on June 21, which resulted in the postponement of his scheduled July 2 title defense against Jonathan Oquendo (31-6, 19 KOs) of Puerto Rico inside the MGM Bubble in Las Vegas.
The fight will take place only three weeks later, on Tuesday (July 14), even though members of his team suggested he wait or fight in a 10-round non-title bout.
“I am back, healthy and 100 percent ready to defend my world title,” he told ESPN, which will television the fight. “Oquendo is a tough opponent who realizes this is his last chance to win a world title.
“He’s coming for what I have, and I’m not going to cut any corners. I will return home to celebrate with my family and my belt.”
Herring said he felt achy but wasn’t concerned until he developed a fever on June 19. He was tested the following day and received the results the day after that, at which point he went into quarantine.
He was interviewed by ESPN on June 23.
“I’m OK, I feel like my normal self again,” Herring said at that time. “I feel good. After I got past the whole fever, I felt good. I didn’t even know I had it ’til I came down with the fever.”
He went on: “The doctor said since I came in after I already had the fever, that I was already at the last stages of the virus. I literally broke the fever Saturday night; it only last two days for me, Friday night and Saturday night. By the time I got the test results … Sunday morning, I was already done with the fever stages.”
Herring (21-2, 10 KOs) said that a follow-up test came back negative and that he’s now symptom free. And his strength and conditioning coach said he has seen no fall off in Herring’s training since he returned to the gym.
Still, there is no telling how having had the virus will affect him – if at all.
“We have no idea how athletes recover from COVID,” Paulina Endara, Herring’s nutritionist, told ESPN. “This is still so new. But we’ve done everything we can to make sure Jamel is healthy and ready to fight.”
Herring isn’t the only fighter on the card who has had to deal with COVID-19.
Mikaela Mayer (12-0, 5KOs) also tested positive and was pulled from Top Rank’s June 9 card as a result. However, it was later determined that it was a false positive.
The 2016 U.S. Olympian from Los Angeles will face Helen Joseph (17-4-2, 10 KOs) of Nigeria in a 10-round junior lightweight co-feature.
Other bouts on the card: Clay Collard vs. Lorawnt T Nelson, six rounds, middleweights; Luis Melendez vs. Edward Vazquez, eight round, featherweights; Ruben Cervera vs. Clay Burns, six rounds, lightweights; and William Villa vs. Eduardo Sanchez, four rounds, junior lightweights.
Jamel Herring has tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the cancellation of his July 2 130-pound title defense against Jonathan Oquendo.
Jamel Herring was itching to get back into a boxing ring and defend his junior lightweight title on July 2 against Jonathan Oquendo at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Those plans have been put on hold indefinitely after Herring tested positive for COVID-19.
“Last week, I tested positive for COVID-19,” Herring announced on Twitter. “That’s the bad news. The good news, however, is I feel OK and have self-isolated until I receive a clean bill of health. My WBO junior lightweight world title defense against Jonathan Oquendo will be rescheduled shortly. Semper Fi.”
This marks another main event for ESPN and Top Rank that had to be scrapped because of a positive COVID-19 test. Last week, Jose Pedraza vs. Mikkel LesPierre was called off after LesPierre’s manager tested positive for the coronavirus.
In total, four fights have been postponed over the past couple of weeks because of failed coronavirus tests. Mikaela Mayer’s bout against Helen Joseph was the first fight to be taken down by COVID-19. That fight has been rescheduled for July 14.
With Herring out, Pedraza-LesPierre will likely be moved into the July 2 main event slot. With both Pedraza and LesPierre’s tests coming back clean, ESPN and Top Rank were able to quickly reschedule the fight and fill the void that Herring-Oquendo has left.
A panel of experts brought together by ESPN determined that boxing is the most difficult sport for its participants.
Boxing Junkie doesn’t know why Sports Ranked By Difficulty resurfaced but it remains interesting to us for one specific reason: Boxing is No. 1.
ESPN brought together a panel of experts a few years ago to determine which sports are the most difficult based on 10 categories: endurance, strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, nerve, durability, hand-eye coordination, and analytic aptitude.
The panel was composed of sports scientists, academicians with expertise in muscles and movement, athletes themselves and sports journalists.
“That’s the sport that demands the most from the athletes who compete in it,” ESPN wrote about boxing. “It’s harder than football, harder than baseball, harder than basketball, harder than hockey or soccer or cycling or skiing or fishing or billiards or any other of the 60 sports we rated.
“In Page 2’s Ultimate Degree of Difficulty Grid, boxing scores higher than them all.”
Former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson and UFC star Jon Jones have exchanged messages on social media about fighting one another.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on DAZN.com.
***
Jon Jones is currently in a feud with the UFC over fighter pay and has gone as far as to suggest that he’ll relinquish his UFC light heavyweight title if the MMA promotional company doesn’t pay him what he feels he deserves.
The UFC is seemingly unwilling to pay Jones for a heavyweight showdown with Francis Ngannou but perhaps there’s another heavyweight in combat sports who could face arguably the best mixed martial artist of all time.
And that person is Mike Tyson.
The 53-year-old former heavyweight champion has been teasing a return to boxing with training videos over the past few months. Tyson took to Instagram Live to explain that if Jones wants real money, he’ll have to step into the ring with him.
“A UFC [fighter] will never be richer than a first class [boxer],” Tyson said. “To make a hundred million dollars, Conor [McGregor] had to fight Floyd [Mayweather]! Even if he fights Jon Jones, he’s not going to get that. Jon Jones gotta fight me to make some super money.”
After hearing Tyson, Jones responded with, “I’m listening.”
Jones then followed that with an Instagram post laying down the terms of a potential fight.
“I’ll box you in the ring if you promise to give me a real fight in the octagon afterwards,” Jones said. “And because I respect you so much, I promise I won’t break anything on you.”
While this all sounds good in theory, the likelihood of a Jon Jones and Mike Tyson fight is slim to none. But that’s also what was said about Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather and it ended up being one of the richest fights on combat sports history. You can never say never if the money is right.
Emanuel Navarrete broke down and stopped Uriel Lopez in the sixth round Saturday at the TV Azteca Studios in Mexico City.
It takes a while for Emanuel Navarrete to get rolling. Once he does, though, you don’t want to be the guy standing across from him.
Navarrete did what everyone expected him to do on Saturday night at the TV Azteca Studios in Mexico City, which was to stop overmatched Uriel Lopez in a non-title fight with no spectators because of the coronavirus. And the long, powerful 122-pound champion did it in brutal fashion.
The Mexico City native unleashed a torrent of hard, damaging shots in the sixth and final round, putting a badly beaten Lopez down on all fours and giving the referee no choice but to stop the onslaught. The official time was 2:22.
Navarette (32-1, 27 KOs) has now scored six consecutive knockouts since he outpointed Isaac Dogboe to win his title in December 2018.
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Lopez (13-14-1, 6 KOs) was game until the moment the fight ended. The journeyman, also from Mexico City, was competitive in the first few rounds as the much taller Navarette was finding his rhythm and range.
He found both by the third round, when he shifted into a higher gear, picked up his punch rate and began to beat the stuffing out of his poor opponent.
Navarrete put Lopez down with a body shot a little over a minute into Round 5 and then, the second Lopez got to his feet, pounded him from every conceivable angle. To his credit, Lopez showed impressive resilience … until Round 6, that is.
It seemed as if Navarrete had an appointment for which he was late in the final round. He wanted out of there. And did what it took to get that accomplished, firing shots to the body and head at a rate that broke Lopez down. The big blow was a straight right to the stomach, followed by a left hook.
Lopez fell to his hands and knees, with his head hanging. He was done.
“I have the utmost respect for Uriel Lopez. He put forth a courageous effort, but I was coming to win by knockout,” Navarrete said.
What’s next for the winner?
Well, don’t expect him to rest for long. The victory over Loppez was Navarrete’s sixth fight in 13 months, which is unheard of for a titleholder. The man likes to keep busy.
The question is who will he face and at what weight. He has difficulty making 122 but said he’d like to unify the titles before moving up to 126. That means he’d have to fight either Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who holds two belts after outpointing Daniel Roman in January, or Rey Vargas. Akhmadaliev’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has expressed interest in a showdown.
“I want to unify titles,” he said, “but if nobody accepts my challenge, I’ll move up to featherweight.”
The elite 126-pounders are on notice.
In preliminaries, Edwin Palomares (13-3-1, 4 KOs) scored an upset by stopping Carlos Ornelas (25-3, 14 KOs) in the fifth round of a scheduled 10-round junior lightweight bout.
Palomares overwhelmed Ornelas with relentless aggression, barely giving his more-experienced opponent room to breathe. In the final round, Palomares landed what seemed to be a grazing body shot but Ornelas took a knee. At that moment, one of Ornelas’ cornerman signaled that his fighter had taken enough and the fight was stopped.
Palomares literally pounded the fight out of Ornelas to record the biggest victory of the 24-year-old Mexico City resident’s career.
Also, Sergio Sanchez (15-1, 9 KOs) gave an impressive performance against Alan Pina (8-3, 5 KOs) in a scheduled eight-round featherweight bout, stopping Pina with one punch in the opening seconds of Round 3.
Sanchez put Pina down with a left hook in the final moments of Round 1 and landed a number of hard, accurate shots in Round 2, which was only a prelude of what was to come. Pina was moving forward when Sanchez landed a perfect left uppercut, rendering Pina unconscious the moment the punch landed.
Pina lay motionless on his back for several minutes but was able to get up. The official time was six seconds into the round.
And Armando Garcia (6-0, 3 KOs) survived a cut in the fourth round to outpoint Roberto Palomares (5-5-1, 1 KO) in a six-round junior bantamweight fight between Mexico City residents. The scores were 59-55, 59-55 and 59-56.
The card was the first in Mexico since the pandemic took hold.
Tyson Fury was critical of Anthony Joshua’s call at a BLM protest for people to spend their money only at black-owned businesses.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on DAZN.com.
***
A little over a week ago, unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua delivered a passionate speech at a Black Lives Matter protest in his hometown of Watford, England that has drawn its fair share of praise and criticism.
And one of those individuals who was critical just so happens to be his potential opponent in 2021 — Tyson Fury.
“The virus has been declared a pandemic, it is out of control,” Joshua said in front of thousands who gathered. “And I’m not talking about COVID-19. The virus I’m referring to is called racism. We need to speak out. We need to be united.”
During the speech, Joshua suggested that attendees “abstain from spending your money in their shops and economies and invest in black-owned businesses.” While many cheered, others called out Joshua for being a “racist.” Among his critics was Fury, who addressed Joshua’s speech on the “Behind The Gloves” show.
“I’m sure he’s apologized if he’s offended anybody — oh, he actually didn’t, did he?” Fury said. “He actually said if you didn’t like what I said, go f— yourself. So no apology necessary. Let’s just say, I’m not pushing knives in or pushing anybody when they’re down but if it had been me who said it, ‘Don’t shop in any black-owned stores or any Asian-owned stores’ or anything, or don’t buy from their businesses, then I’d have been crucified like Jesus Christ. I’ll just say that.”
Joshua responsed to his critics on Twitter by saying he “spoke from the heart.” Still, Fury believes Joshua’s comments are going to cost him fans in the long run.
“Because I think it’s cost him a lot of pay-per-views, figures and stuff like that, and it’s upset a lot of people because he’s supposed to be the poster boy, the role model, the ambassador and talks bulls— like that,” Fury said. “But it is what it is what it is. Everyone to their own. None of my concern, to be fair. Good job it wasn’t me, and it never would be me because to me color doesn’t exist. I’ve got the most diverse team in boxing.”
Fury also suggested that Joshua would not have said what he said at the protest if his longtime promoter Eddie Hearn was there.
“The thing is with Joshua, he’s always got Eddie to talk for him, and Eddie does all the media stuff and all that and he sort of just reads off a piece of paper,” Fury said. “Even that speech he was reading, he read it off a piece of paper. Nothing is freestyle, everything is wrote out or planned. So during the lock down obviously Eddie wasn’t with him when he did this, or else he’d have given him a right kick up the rear end.”
With a possible super fight to determine an undisputed heavyweight champion on the horizon, this will certainly drum up some heat between the two fighters.
