Jamel Herring vs. Shakur Stevenson | Sky Sports - 23 October 2021

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Press Release

Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring and Shakur Stevenson have exchanged verbal volleys in person and on social media. They’ll settle the score in the Throwdown in A-Town.

Herring will defend his WBO junior lightweight world title against former featherweight world champion Stevenson on Saturday, Oct. 23 at the award-winning State Farm Arena in Atlanta in an event promoted by Top Rank.

Nico Ali Walsh (1-0, 1 KO), grandson of “The Greatest,” Muhammad Ali, looks to make it 2 for 2 against an opponent to be named in a four-round middleweight special attraction.

Herring-Stevenson, Ali Walsh’s bout, and a co-feature will air live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes (simulcast on ESPN+) at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT.

The undercard — streaming live and exclusively on ESPN+ — will see the professional comeback of U.S. Olympic silver medalist Duke Ragan (4-0, 1 KO) in a six-round featherweight bout, Ragan’s Olympic teammate Troy Isley (2-0, 1 KO) in a six-rounder at middleweight, Georgia native Haven Brady Jr. (3-0, 3 KOs) in a four-round featherweight tilt, and the A-Town debut of junior middleweight prospect Evan “Yung Holy” Holyfield (7-0, 5 KOs), an Atlanta native and the son of heavyweight legend Evander Holyfield.

Tickets go on sale Friday, Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. ET and can be purchased at ticketmaster.com.

“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 Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “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 (23-2, 11 KOs), a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who captained the 2012 U.S. Olympic boxing team, has made three defenses of the world title he won via decision over Masayuki Ito in May 2019. After a challenging 2020 campaign that included a bout with COVID-19 and a disqualification victory over Jonathan Oquendo, Herring punched his passport in April and knocked out former two-weight world champion Carl Frampton in Dubai. He now steps up against pound-for-pound talent and 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medalist Stevenson (16-0, 8 KOs), a former WBO featherweight world champion who vacated the title last year to move up to junior lightweight. Stevenson is 3-0 at junior lightweight, most recently picking up the interim WBO junior lightweight world title in June with a shutout decision over Namibia’s Jeremiah Nakathila. Stevenson has lost only a handful of rounds since turning pro in April 2017, a dominant run that’s included victories over the likes of Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz and Joet Gonzalez.

“2021 has been good to me so far. I started the year with a big fight and a major win over Frampton,” Herring said. “I look forward to finishing out the year the same way I started it, not only with another huge victory, but as a world champion. I have nothing else to say. I’m focused on October 23 and the fourth title defense of my WBO belt.”

Stevenson said, “Jamel had to fight me, or he would’ve been stripped of his world title. I boxed him into a corner, and I am going to take his world title in devastating fashion on October 23. I can’t wait to fight in front of the amazing fans in Atlanta. Trust me, you are going to see a show, and I will become a two-weight world champion.”

Ali Walsh’s Aug. 14 professional debut drew international media attention, and he knocked out Jordan Weeks in the opening round while wearing a pair of his grandfather’s old trunks. He’ll make his ring return in a city that hosted two of Muhammad Ali’s most memorable moments. State Farm Arena sits less than two miles from the Atlanta Olympic Cauldron Tower, where Ali lit the Olympic flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In October 1970, Ali fought Jerry Quarry at City Auditorium, his first fight in more than three years after being banned from the ring for refusing induction into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Ali Walsh’s second pro fight will come three days shy of the 51st anniversary of the Quarry fight, which Ali won by third-round knockout.

Ali Walsh said, “Atlanta welcomed my grandfather with open arms, and I am honored to fight there on a major world championship card. When Top Rank said I’d be fighting in Atlanta, I thought of my grandfather lighting the Olympic torch and his bout against Jerry Quarry. This will be a special evening for my entire family. The legend lives on.”

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I’m liking the TR and Sky deal.

TR have one of the best stables.

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[stujones]

Great contest - I think though Stevenson has the potential to be something a bit special that we will be talking about long after he retires, but it is a good test for him as Herring showed some class himself vs Frampton, albeit Frampton really had no right fighting at Super Feather.

[margaret thatcher]

ppl are barely talking about him now, he's very good but dreadfully boring and doesnt have much flare that other slickters do

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[maverick23]

You wouldn’t have thought that Shakur was the 130lber in that picture.

[margaret thatcher]

reeg is another boxer lieing about his height, he's about 5'6 yet gets reported as 5'8 or 5'9

shak not only looks taller there, but more defined and not smaller framed. weights are a funny thing in boxing

[gregregegg]

You wouldn’t have thought that Shakur was the 130lber in that picture.

the legs are very different. and the arm over makes you look bigger, they reversed hat it would change the look a bit.

[MightyWarrior]

Great interview with Shak here, and a very high hilarious Mike Tyson

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[brilo33]

going shakur pionts the boy is a boxer and a good one and still getting better

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Herring: I Know How Talented Shakur Is, I Don't Feed Off What People Say

Jamel Herring didn’t need to read the fight reports on Shakur Stevenson’s latest performance to form his opinion on the unbeaten former featherweight titlist.

Much has been made of Stevenson’s uninspiring—though ultimately effective— effort in his twelve-round, unanimous decision win over Namibia’s Jeremia Nakathila. Their June 12 fight in Las Vegas to determine the next challenger in line for the WBO junior lightweight title held by Herring, who already banked on facing Stevenson (16-0, 8 KOs).

Nothing about the process to lead to their upcoming October 23 clash has prompted the defending champion to view his upcoming challenger any other way than as another fighter after his crown.

“I was there, I heard the reaction but I didn’t go off of that,” Herring admitted to ESPN’s Crystina Poncher during the official press conference to announce his title defense versus Stevenson. “I know how talented Shakur is at the end of the day. I don’t feed off what people say.

“That’s their opinion. At the end of the day, they’re not in with a guy like Shakur, an elite fighter.”

Stevenson has barely lost a round since turning pro in April 2017, less than a year after claiming a Silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics. The unbeaten southpaw from Newark, New Jersey breezed to a WBO featherweight title during third year as a pro before moving up to the 130-pound division in pursuit of a second major title.

The journey has led to Stevenson taking on a familiar foe in Herring (23-2, 11 KOs), who has held the WBO junior lightweight title since May 2019. The win came four fights into his union with head trainer Brian ‘Bomac’ McIntyre following a two losses in a three-fight span which left many to write off the Long Island-bred southpaw.

Herring—a decorated two-tour war veteran with the U.S. Marines— was equally dismissed following his disqualification win over Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Oquendo, offering an uneven performance in their fight last September which came less than two months after Herring tested positive for Covid-19.

Faith was fully restored in his career following a sixth-round knockout of former two-division champion Carl Frampton this past April in Dubai. Still, Stevenson enters as the betting favorite ahead of their forthcoming ESPN headliner from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Herring is perfectly fine with that role, though doesn’t expect Stevenson to come in overconfident but rather with a chip on his shoulder.

“I believe in terms of him, he sounds a lot more hungrier,” insists Herring, who attempts the fourth defense of his title. “It’s going to bring a long more out of him, and will make for a better fight between the two of us. We both have something to prove in our own right. He’s young, he’s hungry and wants to be a two-division champion, which I respect.

“Me, I feel like I’m always counted out. I’m still fighting for my respect That’s what keeps me motivated and hungry. This fight especially will bring out the best in us.”

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Stevenson: Herring's Team Best Thing He's Bringing To Ring, But They Can't Fight For Him

Shakur Stevenson will see some very familiar faces when he looks across the ring the night of October 23 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

Stevenson considers Jamel Herring more of an acquaintance than a friend, but Herring’s challenger is admittedly close with Herring’s handlers. Herring’s trainers, Brian McIntyre and Jacqui “Red” Spikes, also work with Terence Crawford, who has mentored Stevenson since the 2016 Olympic silver medalist turned pro 4½ years ago.

Stevenson (16-0, 8 KOs) usually trains in Colorado Springs, often alongside Crawford, the unbeaten WBO welterweight champion. He’ll train for the Herring fight in Las Vegas in part because Herring (23-2, 11 KOs) will prepare for this mandated defense of his WBO junior lightweight title in Colorado Springs.

Herring’s trainers couldn’t be more familiar with Stevenson, who is trained by his grandfather, Wali Moses, and Kay Koroma. The 24-year-old Stevenson doesn’t view their familiarity with him as a significant disadvantage because the undefeated former WBO featherweight champion is confident that he operates on a higher level than the 35-year-old Herring.

“He’s with a good team,” Stevenson told BS.com. “I’m expecting him to come in in as good a shape as possible. I’m expecting him to have an awkward style. I’m expecting him to give me a tough challenge, but at the end of the day I feel like I’m better than him and I know more than him. I feel like that’s all gonna come into play. I feel like I’m younger, faster, and I think all that’s gonna play a part. I know it ain’t gonna be easy going against Bo-Mac and Red. And I know they gonna prepare they guy, and he gonna come in a hundred percent, the best shape of his career.

“But at the end of the day, they can’t fight for him. They can’t get in the ring and fight for him. They been across from me in the gym, and it don’t matter who it is, I’m still gonna be myself and I’m still gonna dominate. So, that don’t really play too much of a part to me, either.”

Stevenson called Herring’s style “weird.” The Newark, New Jersey, native wasn’t overly impressed, either, by the 2012 U.S. Olympian’s dominant performance against two-division world champion Carl Frampton in his most recent bout.

Herring floored Frampton twice, once apiece in the fifth and sixth rounds, en route to a sixth-round stoppage April 3 at Caesars Bluewaters Dubai. That devastating defeat prompted Frampton’s retirement, but Stevenson still has more respect for Herring’s trainers than Herring himself.

“That’s his best attribute,” Stevenson said. “That’s the best thing he’s bringing into the ring October 23rd. Not his team’s familiarity with me – his team in general. He’s got a good team. But like I said, them being familiar with me don’t play a part for me, either. Because it’s like if Terence Crawford go fight Maurice Hooker, for example, and they’re coaching Maurice Hooker for the fight, against Terence Crawford, nine times out of 10 we’re gonna see Terence beat up Maurice Hooker, even with them in [Hooker’s] corner. So like, at the end of the day, I feel like it got a lot to do with how good the fighter is. You can help him so much, but you can’t fight for him.”

[THEBUTCH]

At the moment I'm thinking Herring. He absolutely picked apart Frampton piece by piece. It could of been a peak Frampton for all I care, Herring was on another level and made ridiculously easy work of Carl.

If Stevenson can't overpower Herring, I reckon the experience and technical precision of Herring has come a bit too soon for Stevenson to fathom.

[Cent0089]

Shafikov just slaughtered Herring years ago. Stevenson will pick him apart.

[Crease]

Stevenson for the stoppage.

It's been known for a few years now that Stevenson is gonna be one of the next group of elite fighters for the yanks...

Carl Frampton said it multiple times before the Herring fight. He wanted to win that belt (thus becoming a 3-weight Champ) then fulfil the IBF Mando challenge in a big hometown fight against Stevenson... And he identified that the kid is going to go places...

Herring has done really well for himself and he's kinda come out of nowhere to get where he is and sit near the top of the mountain... But Stevenson's time is coming!!!

[margaret thatcher]

stoppage would be nice, though shak seems to have a thing for extremely boring decisions

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stoppage would be nice, though shak seems to have a thing for extremely boring decisions

Yeh, and Jamel isn’t an explosive guy where he always comes forward.

The styles might make this a little boring.

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Press Release | Xander Zayas vs. Dan Karpency Added as Co-Feature

Xander Zayas (10-0, 7 KOs), the 19-year-old Puerto Rican-born prodigy, will fight Dan Karpency in a six-round junior middleweight bout Saturday, Oct. 23 at State Farm Arena. Zayas-Karpency will serve as the co-feature to the “Throwdown in A-Town” main event between WBO junior lightweight world champion Jamel Herring and undefeated former featherweight world champion Shakur Stevenson.

Nico Ali Walsh (1-0, 1 KO), grandson of “The Greatest,” Muhammad Ali, has an opponent for his second pro bout. Ali Walsh will face James Westley II (1-0), from Toledo, Ohio, in a four-round middleweight tilt.

Herring-Stevenson, Zayas-Karpency and Ali Walsh-Westley II will air live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes (simulcast on ESPN+) at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT.

Zayas said, “I am grateful to Top Rank and ESPN for this opportunity. Fighting underneath a main event like Herring-Stevenson, in front of the great Atlanta fans, is an honor. It will also be my first time fighting on ESPN as a co-feature, and I will not disappoint. My goal is to win Prospect of the Year, and I’m coming to Atlanta to put on a spectacular show. Don’t miss it.”

Zayas has been earmarked for stardom since signing with Top Rank as a 16-year-old in early 2019. He turned pro at 17 in October 2019 and notched four first-round stoppages in his first six outings. Zayas has been clocking overtime in 2021, as this will be his fifth appearance of the year. He shut out James Martin over six rounds in February, blew out Demarcus Layton in 56 seconds in April, grinded down Larry Fryers in three rounds in June, and dominated Jose Luis Sanchez over six rounds last month in Tucson, Arizona. Karpency (9-3-1, 4 KOs) has never been knocked out in an eight-year pro career. Zayas has only been the six-round distance twice as a pro, while Karpency has gone eight or more rounds on four occasions.

In undercard action streaming live and exclusively on ESPN+ (7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT), Atlanta’s Evan “Yung Holy” Holyfield (7-0, 5 KOs), son of heavyweight legend Evander Holyfield, will take on Charles Stanford (6-3, 3 KOs) in a six-round junior middleweight bout; Atlanta native Roddricus Livsey (8-0-1, 5 KOs) will battle Eric Palmer (12-14-5, 1 KO) in a six-rounder at junior welterweight; Georgia-born prospect Haven Brady Jr. (3-0, 3 KOs) will fight fellow unbeaten Roberto Negrete (3-0, 1 KO) in a four-rounder at featherweight; Chicago’s Antoine Cobb will make his pro debut in four-round junior welterweight bout; Brooklyn-born lightweight Harley Mederos (1-0, 1 KO) will fight in a four-rounder; and recent U.S. Olympian Troy Isley (2-0, 1 KO) will make his professional return in a six-rounder at middleweight.

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Herring On Stevenson Trash Talk: I've Seen Him At Worse, He's Just Building The Fight

For all that he has experienced in the ring and literally on the battlefield, words are the last thing to ever have any effect on Jamel Herring.

A steady stream of trash talk has preceded Herring’s upcoming title defense, most of the harsh commentary coming from unbeaten challenger and former WBO featherweight titlist Shakur Stevenson (16-0, 8 KOs). After months of talking up the fight, the two are set to collide for Herring’s WBO junior lightweight title October 23 on ESPN from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

The bout will mark the fourth title defense for Herring (23-2, 11 KOs), a two-tour Iraqi war veteran with the U.S. Marines and 2012 U.S. Olympic team captain from the Coram section of Long Island, New York. Herring—who turns 36 at the end of October—and Stevenson have been in past training camps together, though since entering a rivalry once placed on a path for collision course.

If there is a personal beef, it’s only in one direction.

“My thing, I want to become the undisputed champion, the true lineal champion of the division,” Herring told BS.com. “It doesn't matter what anyone has to say about it, or say about me. All I'm focused on is who's in my way of that goal.

Stevenson made a point to go hard after Herring in the months leading up to their fight, which was finalized earlier this summer. The two shared a stage earlier this month when Top Rank—the promotional company for both boxers—hosted a press conference to formally announce the event. Stevenson—a Silver medalist for the 2016 U.S. Olympic boxing team that competed in Rio—has vowed to handle Herring and become a two-division titlist, showing little regard for the division’s longest reigning titlist.

“I’ve seen Shakur be worse. I’ve seen him at worse,” Herring admitted to ESPN’s Crystina Poncher, dismissing Stevenson’s recent attempts to get under his skin. “At times, I said he’s just building the fight, this is boxing chatter. At the end of the day, we both got to go in the ring and fight. I honestly think this is the biggest fight in the division, with everything going on.

“We live in an era where kids see everything. My daughter was just like, ‘Dad, why is everyone attacking you?’ I just tell them that it is what it is. I look forward to putting on a great fight for the fans here in Atlanta in October.”

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Fight Week!!

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I hope it't not on too late in the UK.