By Chris Williams: Moments ago, Top Rank officially announced the title defense by WBO super featherweight champion Jamel ‘Semper Fi’ Herring (23-2, 11 KOs) against mandatory challenger Shakur Stevenson (16-0, 8 KOs) in the headliner in this Top Rank-promoted show on ESPN & ESPN Deportes at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The action starts at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Hopefully, Stevenson engages more and doesn’t spoil the party by fighting defensively for 12 rounds, as we saw from him in his last fight against Jeremiah Nakathilia last June in their WBO 130-lb title eliminator bout.
That was an awful fight to watch due to Stevenson playing it safe, retreating backward each time the heavy-handed Nakathilia would give an indication that he was thinking of throwing a punch.
Even when Nakathilia had no intention of going on the attack, Stevenson would back off because he was worried about getting hit. Stevenson, 23, gave boxing fans the impression that he’s packing glass in his mandible.
Top Rank is likely to take the winner of the Herring vs. Stevenson fight and match them against WBC super featherweight champion Oscar Valdez in a unification clash.
That would be an easy fight for Bob Arum of Top Rank to make, considering he would have only his hands on the gear shift of the promotion.
It’s good that Herring, 35, and the unbeaten #1 WBO Shakur can finally get this match done, as they’ve been trash-talking for the longest time, and now they’re meeting up next month in the main event.
The only thing that doesn’t make sense for this fight is the location. Why is Top Rank staging a fight between the New York-born Herring and the New Jersey-born Stevenson in the south in Atlanta.
It’s a bizarre move, but they obviously are counting on the two being able to bring in a huge crowd at the State Farm Arena like we’ve been seeing from Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, who has been fighting in Atlanta despite living in Baltimore.
Herring has looked great since capturing the WBO 130-lb title in May 2019, defeating champion Masayuki Ito by a 12 round unanimous decision. In Herring’s three successful title defenses since winning his WBO strap, he’s beaten Lamont Roach, Carl Frampton, and Jonathan Oquendo.
For Herring to defeat Stevenson, he’s going to need to take him out of his comfort zone by putting massive pressure on him the way Cuban Robeisy Ramirez did in defeating him in the 2016 Olympics.
“We are thrilled to be back in Atlanta with a spectacular card headlined by a junior lightweight championship grudge match between a veteran champion and one of the sport’s supreme young talents,” said Arum of the Herring vs. Stevenson fight.
“And with names like Ali Walsh, Ragan, and Isley on the undercard, Atlanta’s great fight fans will see many of the sport’s most promising up-and-comers.”
Herring vs. Stevenson undercard:
- Nico Ali Walsh vs. TBA – middleweight
- Duke Ragan vs. TBA – featherweight
- Troy Isley vs. TBA – middleweight
- Haven Brady Jr. vs. TBA – featherweight
- Evan Holyfield vs. TBA – junior middleweight