By Cathal Jennings – Recently I caught up with Lightweight Contender Jamel Herring. See what the former Marine has to say about his victory on Tuesday night, His plans for 2016, Working with Al Haymon and the Khan/Canelo fight.
CJ: Another fine performance on Tuesday night, what did you think of the fight and how it went?
JH: I thought the fight went as planned. We wanted to force him to fight at our pace, and break his body down to take away some of his power. Overall it went well, and I’m happy to come out with the victory.
CJ: So what’s next? Would you like to be facing guys in the top 10 in your next couple of fights?
JH: What’s next? I really don’t know exactly just yet, I wouldn’t say top 10 though just yet, but like I recently pointed out I’d definitely like to fight the guys from the top 15 on down soon. Truthfully I’d like to fight 3-4 more times this year! I just want to stay busy and push my way up in the rankings more further.
CJ: What is it like having so much support from the Marines and Armed Forces?
JH: It’s a huge boost, A lot of men and women in the armed forces look at me as inspiration and I greatly appreciate them all for that. That’s why I always give it my all in the ring because I represent them.
CJ: You had two deployments in Iraq what was that like and how has it shaped the man and fighter you are today?
JH: It was like hell, a complete war zone and culture shock. It made me look at life a lot differently though. There are good people in that country, other than the ones we’re fighting against but to see how they were living at times made me appreciate everything that I have here in the States. They say boxing is more mental than positive so with that being said it just made me mentally tougher for the sport of boxing.
CJ: You are chasing down a world title fast but which title route are you going down?
JH: I’m taking notice to a lot of the guys in the UK. Anthony Crolla has a tough mandatory coming up, but we spoke a few words not too long ago and made it clear that anything can happen in the future. Derry Matthews and I spoke the same day but he had a very nasty approach which fueled me to go after him but as we know he has a tough match up coming against Terry Flanagan, who I also have my eye out for so we never know what may happen.
CJ: What has being signed with Al Haymon and fighiting on PBC done for your career?
JH: Being signed with Al and being apart of the PBC brand has opened doors for me and gave my professional career life. After the Olympic Games, not many managers or promoters were knocking at my door but Al gave me a chance and since then I’ve taken full advantage of it and I’m grateful.
CJ: The Lightweight Division is so exciting and with so many top fighters but who at the moment do you think is the number 1 lightweight?
JH: #1 right now has to be Jorge Linares hands down. I’ve sparred him as an amateur back in 2011 and he helped out out a lot, I also got to see how sharp he was as well. Rances Barthalemy is another one which I’m friends with but I believe he wants to move up to super lightweight so.
CJ: The blockbuster fight between Khan and Canelo is coming up how do you think that fight will go and what do you think of Khan’s decision to take such a jump in weight?
JH: When that fight was announced I was totally shocked. I respected Khan for his heart and determination but I felt it was a lopsided mismatch. After thinking it over I feel as anyone has a chance in boxing and people love to see the underdog win. I believe Khan’s only chance though is to strictly stick to using his hand speed and footwork. Avoid making a slugfest at all cost, and don’t stand in front of Canelo too long. People say Canelo is flat footed which is true to a certain extent but once he plants his feet and let’s his hands go, he’ll make every punch count and he has good hand speed himself. My real question in this one is, will Khan’s speed travel with him as he goes up in weight though?
CJ: Tell us about Jamel Herring the man and what led you to where you are now in regards to boxing.
JH: I’m just an ordinary guy who loves to be around good people. I pretty much interact with any and everyone, especially on my social media. What led me where I’m at though would obviously be my military background. Just that will to succeed keeps me going, and I just like to test myself as much as possible.
By Cathal Jennings
@14Cathal
Comments are closed.