Jamel Herring wasn’t known for devastating punching power during his world-championship boxing career, and now that he’s transitioned to bare-knuckle boxing at age 40, he says that’s a good thing.
“We have to use skills and fundamentals,” Herring told BoxingScene this week as he moves to Friday’s Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s bantamweight title fight versus Michael Larrimore at Accisure Arena in Palm Desert, California.
“I’m known as being slick and athletic. You don’t want to have to rely on keeping your guard up, because for boxers, the gloves are the guard. There’s no gloves [in bare knuckle]. So, it was about going back to the basics of boxing: lateral movement, everything behind the jab, setting up traps and so forth.”
Herring won his January BKFC debut, and now moves to the title fight in an attempt to top his 2019-2021 reign as WBO super-featherweight champion that included victories over former world champions Lamont Roach Jnr and Carl Frampton and closed with a loss to unbeaten four-division champion Shakur Stevenson.
Herring closed his boxing career 24-5 with 12 KOs in April 2024.
“I was kinda bored. I’m a U.S. Marine, I’ve got to stay active,” Herring explained of his time away from the bright lights of major prizefighting. “I’d watched [former 154lbs boxing and bare-knuckle champion] Austin Trout, and he was doing well with it. I spoke to Austin about it, became a fan and then reached out to [BKFC CEO] David Feldman, who knew me from when I boxed.”
He first sized up the roster.
“I’ve been keeping a close eye on everyone in the division. It’s just like boxing. I study what works, what doesn’t work. I’ve noticed a lot of guys don’t put a lot of emphasis on body shots,” Herring said. “That’s something that I took into my last fight because I believe you can take a lot of steam out of guys by going to the body. I take my little notes and go from there.”
While bare-knuckle fights would best be avoided by boxers who experienced hand troubles during their career, Herring said after his first fight went the distance, “I was a little sore, but no head trauma, and my body wasn’t beat up. The next morning, I took some Ibuprofren and got on the plane.”
Advancing age isn’t bothering Herring, either.
He’s been training in Riverside County with cornerman Henry Ramirez since April 1.
“Henry tries to pull the reins back when he sees I’m peaking, but I’ve just been having fun. I was fresher than the younger guy I was fighting in my first fight,” Herring said. “It’s not like we’re fighting 12 rounds for 36 minutes in boxing. It’s five rounds and 10 minutes.
“Definitely easier on the body. I still approach it as a 12-round fight in training camp, I still do the work, leave no stone unturned and keep the mindset locked on ‘world title.’ From working with Terence Crawford and [trainer] Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, I know what it takes to take it to the next level.”
Earlier this week, Herring kept with his practice of envisioning a high-quality fight by reviewing others on film. So he watched Crawford’s captivating September victory over Canelo Alvarez, and then called McIntyre afterward for further inspiration.
“‘Bud’ is just different, and I’ve seen the way he trains in camp,” Herring said. “I’ve seen the things it takes to get over that hill.”
With Larrimore 3-1, an explosive puncher, Herring has watched how fellow U.S. Marine Keith Richardson knocked him out in the first round.
“This is where the fighter’s experience has to kick in from the first minute because it’s only those five two-minute rounds,” Herring said. “You can’t wait around to catch up with your groove. I want to start quicker, think about what he does better, pick up on his strengths, being a smart fighter. We want to take away and handicap those tools while I’m doing my thing.”
