By Jake Donovan
The weekends dedicated to Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day have been long been considered prime real estate in regard to showcasing major boxing events.
For a decorated, twice-deployed U.S. Marine like Jamel Herring, occupying this nation’s patriotic-themed weekends will suit his title reign just fine.
The recently crowned 130-pound titlist is locked and loaded for his first defense, which will come versus mandatory challenger Lamont Roach Jr. The bout will take place on November 9—on the weekend preceding Veterans Day (Nov. 11), honoring those who’ve served (and continue to serve) in the U.S. military.
A location has yet to be determined for the event, which will stream live on ESPN+.
“Could be Long Island (New York; Herring was raised in eastern L.I.), could be San Diego (Calif.),” Herring (20-2, 10KOs) told BoxingScene.com, in his best effort to be coy about his next ring adventure.
The bout will be his first since scoring a well-earned 12-round decision over Japan’s Masayuki Ito to win a 130-pound title this past May in Kissimmee, Fla. The event was staged on the Saturday preceding Memorial Day, complete with a platoon’s worth of uniformed U.S. Marines on hand and joining the southpaw in the ring to celebrate the feat.
As Memorial Day serves as a day of remembrance for fallen service members, it served as a fitting backdrop for Herring’s first title win. The 33-year old southpaw himself served two tours in Iraq during his time spent in the U.S. Marines, along with having served as the captain of the 2012 U.S. Olympic boxing team which competed in London.
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum and the Top Rank staff have kept the same formula in place for his first title defense. The hope was to have Herring enter a title unification bout, only for intended target Miguel Berchelt to claim there are bigger and better opportunities to be sought.
Fellow divisional titlists Gervonta Davis and Tevin Farmer are coming off of wins this weekend, but waiting out their fights wasn’t an option as Herring was pressed with a July 21 deadline to work out a deal to face Roach.
Andrew Cancio, perhaps the lone remaining titlist willing to fight anyone, was also ruled out as he holds a secondary title, from which rival sanctioning bodies don’t recognize and in the past have stripped fighters of their belts for entering such bouts.
That left Roach, perhaps a bit green for the title stage but willing to fight. He is also as fitting as there is for a challenger for this particular fight weekend, as the unbeaten contender hails from the greater Washington D.C. area.
“I’m f****** excited,” exclaimed Roach (19-0-1, 7KOs), upon hearing the news of such a fight first being ordered in late June. “It’s strap season.”
Roach enters the fight coming off of a 10-round decision win over Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Oquendo this past May in Las Vegas—three weeks before Herring’s title-winning effort.
Herring has won four straight bouts since signing with Top Rank last May. The move came shortly after enlisting the services of noted trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, best known for his work with unbeaten pound-for-pound entrant Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford. The union was formed after Herring impressed the team after being brought in to work with Crawford.
The timing couldn’t have been better, as his contract with adviser Al Haymon had run out and he was sitting on his second career loss in a span of just three fights.
Fast forward to present day, where his in-ring achievements as a pro have perfectly blended with his gripping backstory—and now complete with his very own patriotic fight weekends to properly celebrate.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
