Jamel Herring on Making The Move To Top Rank, Brian McIntyre

By Ryan Burton

Last week BoxingScene.com first reported that lightweight contender Jamel Herring (16-2) had signed a promotional agreement with Las Vegas based promoter Top Rank and that he would make his promotional debut on the Terence Crawford-Jeff Horn undercard in April.

Herring also added former undisputed super lightweight champion Terence "Bud" Crawford's trainer and manager Brian McIntyre to his team.

The 2016 US Olympian and former Marine was previously trained by the respected Mike Stafford who is best known for training Adrien Broner.

Herring believes that with his newly assembled team in place the sky is the limit for his future.

"I just felt that I wasn't getting the attention that I needed and in order to succeed in the future - I needed to make some changes to my inner circle. I brought in Brian "Bomac" McIntyre. He really believed in me, especially after I helped Bud in his last camp prepare for his unification fight (against Julius Indongo) and we just sort of kicked it off from there," Herring told BoxingScene.com.

"He is really passionate about his job. He always emphasizes to me that I don't work for him and that he works for me. That is the type of mentality he has. He is a really loving, caring dude. I am just honored to be in that circle. He really wants to see me succeed and become a world champion and that is all I ask for. That is why he stands out from a lot of guys out there and I think he is underrated but in due time he will get his just due."

The 32-year-old Herring also said that he plans on making the move down to the super featherweight division where Top Rank has fighters such as WBO champion Vasyl Lomachenko, Nicholas Walters, Jason Sosa and Christopher Diaz.

"Right now the plan is to move down. I never had any issues to make 135 or had to change up my diet or anything. I had to eat here and there so that I wouldn't come in too light to the weigh-ins," he explained.

Herring had previously spent his entire career under Al Haymon and the Premier Boxing Champions banner. He said that he is thankful for everything that Haymon did for him but with a roster of over 200 fighters and a limited number of television dates, getting fights on a consistent basis was very tough.

Having the opportunity to fight three or four times a year was what Herring said was the main reason he decided to make the move.

"That was the main thing. I have a lot of love and respect for Al Haymon. It wasn't a personal issue or anything. I am very thankful for the opportunities that he gave me - I turned pro under Al Haymon. As a fighter I just wanted to stay busy and that is basically what lead to my decision to go to Top Rank," said Herring.

"From looking from the outside it does look like they have too many guys but I can't speak on everyone's situation. It does look like there are just too many guys to please and there are not that many outlets going around with the PBC brand like when it first started. It looks like it is just getting harder to keep everybody satisfied. If anything I think I made it a little more easier by just going away and letting somebody else take care of my career."

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