On November 9th, Jamel Herring (20-2) will defend his WBO super featherweight title for the first time when he faces his mandatory challenger Lamont Roach (19-0-1) in Fresno, California. The fight will headline a card that will be streamed on ESPN+.

The Marine veteran had hoped to unify titles with WBC super featherweight champion Miguel Berchelt but those plans were scuttled when Berchelt said that he preferred to face Oscar Valdez, Gervonta Davis or Vasiliy Lomachenko instead.

Even though he yearned for a big fight, Herring said that he won't have any problems staying focused while training for the unbeaten Roach.

“Honestly it isn’t hard for me to stay focused because at the end of the day I have to take care of business," said Herring.

As for the Berchelt fight, Herring is still a little perplexed as to why it didn't happen.  He knows that the long reigning Mexican champion wanted one of the bigger names in the sport but instead is facing former champion Jason Sosa.

“We wanted the Berchelt fight. It’s been out there. I’ve been calling for him and I’ve actually been criticized or excuses thrown at me for the fight. At the end of tday I give him respect. He’s #1 in the division by Ring Magazine and ESPN. Probably all around the board if you rank the super featherweight division," Herring told BoxingScene.com.

"So why is that we are all under the same roof - we could be announcing a fight between each other for November. He’s only fighting a week before I am. What’s bigger than a unification in a division where all of the belts right now are basically spread across the board? So I don’t understand his mindset and the reasons why he doesn’t want to take the fight. At this point I am kind of done chasing. I am not a rude guy. I am not trying g to be harsh or rude. He said he had something bigger. We was all thinking it was probably the Oscar Valdez fight. Then when that fight wasn’t the case and our fights are only one week apart I was like what is bigger than a unification? I think he is trying to get the biggest purses but I think a unification brings a lot to the table.”

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter