Jamel Herring got a rude reminder from Father Time inside the ring Saturday night.
In a surprising outcome, Herring, the former 130-pound titlist from Coram, New York, suffered his second straight defeat when Jamaine Ortiz of Worcester, Massachusetts, outworked the veteran over 10 rounds of their lightweight bout on the undercard of the Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Danny Dignum middleweight main event at Resorts World in Las Vegas. Herring, 36, looked sluggish at times.
All three judges had it for the younger, 26-year-old Ortiz with scores that read 96-94 (Chris Migliore), 97-93 (Max DeLuca), 97-93 (David Sutherland).
Herring was coming off a loss to Shakur Stevenson last October in a 130-pound title bout at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. This was Herring’s first foray at 135 since his loss to Ladarius Miller in 2017. The extra five pounds, however, did not seem to help Herring's performance.
A visibly disappointed Herring suggested after the fight that he will no longer be able to compete at a top level in the sport.
“I gotta think about it (career), but I don’t think after tonight…I don’t think I’m where I need to be, especially at the elite level anymore,” Herring said.
Herring, however, did not believe the age gap of 10 years with Ortiz was necessarily the reason for the loss.
“He was just quicker on the trigger,” Herring said of Ortiz. “I don’t think that was it (age). He just had a better output. I wasn’t tired at the end but he just beat me to the draw.”
Herring seemed to be in control in the early rounds, boxing behind his southpaw jab and landing strafing body blows. But the momentum shifted in Ortiz’s favor in the second half of the bout. Ortiz, an orthodox fighter, often bounced on his toes and was able to find success landing the left hand from the southpaw stance.
Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs) was humble about his performance in what was the most important bout of his career.
“I think I could’ve done a lot better,” Ortiz said. “I could’ve had a cleaner performance. Like I said I’m always hard on myself. But much respect to a former world champion.”
Ortiz added that he is thinking of moving up to the junior welterweight division, unless a significant fight at 135 materializes.
“I think I might move up to 140 but if there is a big fight, a big name, at 135, I’ll stick around,” Ortiz said.
Herring got in a clean left hand in the opening minute of round one. He followed up with a left to the body. A brief, inadvertent clash of heads occurred with 40 seconds of the round remaining. Herring countered an Ortiz combo with a left to the body.
Both fighters began opening up midway through the second round, trading blows to the body. Ortiz landed a right hand with 30 seconds left. Ortiz then followed up with a furious combination on Herring, who was on the ropes. Ortiz punctuated the round with a stiff right that buckled the knees of Herring.
Herring worked effectively behind his jab in the third round, mixing in a few lefts to the body. Ortiz had a few moments but was unable to replicate his success from the previous round. The referee warned Herring for throwing a low blow right before the bell.
In the first minute of round four, Ortiz connected on a left hook that briefly hurt Herring. Herring, however, would start stalking Ortiz and landing hard punches to the body that seemed to dissuade Ortiz.
The two continued to trade in the pocket in the fifth round, but it would be Ortiz who put in the more distinguished work. Ortiz connected on a right hook while in the southpaw stance. Ortiz followed up with an overhand left that landed clean on Herring.
Ortiz seemed to beat Ortiz to the punch for most of round six. Herring fired a well-timed left to the chin that briefly halted Ortiz’s momentum.
Ortiz fought in the southpaw stance for most of round seven. A little hop in Ortiz’s step suggested he was in better condition than Herring. Ortiz crowded Herring with combinations to end the round.
Neither fighter accomplished much in the eighth round. Herring worked behind his jab, but failed to land power shots. Ortiz bounced around the canvas but missed with most of his combinations.
Ortiz and Herring traded on the inside in round nine, with Ortiz gaining the upper hand. Ortiz landed several hooks on Herring inside the pocket, bullying the veteran along the ropes. It was a dominant round for Ortiz.
Ortiz came out swinging in the 10th and final round, connecting on a hard left hand on the chin of Herring. A visibly tired Herring employed an earmuff defense as Ortiz pressed forward and unloaded combinations. The two exchanged in the middle of the ring until the end of the round.
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