Former featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson is now scheduled to face the super-featherweight champion, Jamel Herring, for a title shot. This is an extremely special matchup and has the potential to be the biggest fight of the year. Stevenson and Herring are currently two of the best contenders in the world at 130 lbs and this fight is bound to please all boxing purists.

35-year-old Jamel Herring has suffered two setbacks in his nine-year-long professional boxing career. In 2016, Denis Shafikov defeated Herring by way of TKO and then Ladarius Miller handed him his second loss in 2017 by unanimous decision. However, these losses did not sit well with him.

After his last setback in 2017, Herring won three fights in a row and then won the WBO super featherweight belt with a win over Masayuki Ito in 2019. After winning his title, he has successfully defended it thrice; Jamel Herring is coming off an impressive sixth-round knockout of former Fighter of the Year Carl Frampton this past April.

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After winning the WBO featherweight title in 2019, Shakur Stevenson vacated his belt and moved up in weight. The 24-year-old tore through two initial opponents at super-featherweight and ultimately secured a shot at winning the WBO interim title against Jeremiah Nakathila. He dominated Nakathila and booked his shot at Jamel Herring.

Shakur Stevenson vs Jamel Herring: Fight Preview

Despite being close friends, Stevenson was always willing to put his camaraderie with Herring aside in order to get a crack at his WBO title. Now, both parties are officially all set to compete on October 23 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

In the build-up to this fight, Shakur has proven to be the agitator and has even trashed the idea that he is friends with Herring –

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“He’s just a friend of my family at the end of the day. He’s not my friend. He’s not nobody I talk to. Everything I do is better than Jamel. It’s gonna mean everything taking this belt from Jamel,” said Shakur Stevenson.

While Shakur Stevenson has taken multiple shots at Herring, the 35-year-old has been quiet throughout. After serving his country for two tours as a marine, Jamel Herring has fought through depression and PTSD. It is a major reason behind why he holds back from trash talk and banter.

“When you go through those moments, even at that young of an age, it makes you grow up real fast because you come to realize ‘hey, this is not a game like people are really losing their lives out here so it’s not a game’. By 21 years old I had two deployments under my belt,” said Jamel Herring.

Stevenson vs Herring: Final Prediction

Shakur Stevenson is a pure technician inside the ring. In some ways, his approach can be compared to Errol Spence Jr’s approach. His defense, striking, in-ring movement, speed & overall agility set him apart from most other boxers in the 126 and 130 lbs divisions.

In all previous fights, Shakur Stevenson has shown exceptional defense. His ability to switch between conventional and high guards allows him to block most shots thrown his way. Based on his previous fights, Stevenson clearly switches between a high guard and a conventional guard by assessing his opponents’ approaches.

The 24-year-old former Olympian is also a very smart striker. While he is not a ‘knockout artist’, Stevenson is famous for his ‘body first, no headhunting’ approach.

He maintains a perfect balance between shots to the face and body; this allows him to boost his volume of punches.

In his last fight, Shakur Stevenson displayed world-class movement, footwork, and overall agility.

He backs his defense with his movement; for instance, he dodges jabs thrown his way by ducking and stepping back. This usually lets him defend himself better against opponents that like to use their reach to their advantage.

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On the other hand, Jamel Herring’s primary advantage over Stevenson lies in his height and reach. The champ could try to use his jab to create distance and block his opponent from fighting from inside the pocket. However, Stevenson, who could be the faster striker, might be able to show better in-ring movement and defend himself much better than Herring.

Final prediction for Stevenson vs Herring – Shakur Stevenson by unanimous decision.