Jamel Herring Says Despite Battling His ‘Demons’ People Judge Him Harshly

Jamel Herring didn’t have the night that he wanted against Jonathan Oquendo. In a rather odd outcome for a fight, Herring retained his belt. Regardless, he was on the receiving end of a lot of criticism from fans. Since the anticlimactic outcome wasn’t his fault completely, Herring isn’t happy with how he is being judged for the same.

The former Olympian retained his title after the referee, Tony Weeks, stopped the fight in the eight-round. Weeks disqualified Oquendo following his intentional headbutts. It was a headbutt that opened a gash on Herring’s right eye. The headbutt resulted in blood rushing into his eyes to the extent that he couldn’t see anything.

Oquendo fought with his head dipped down and rushing forward right from the start of the fight. This was his strategy to make up for the height and reach disadvantage. Following the first round, Herring made the necessary adjustment and started attacking with hooks and uppercuts. His strategy was paying off as he dropped Oquendo in the third.

The headbutt, however, played the spoiler to a fight that Herring would’ve won anyway. Herring’s performance raised certain eyebrows as to how he would fair against Carl Frampton. Herring was expected to face Frampton by the end of this year. However, with the cut over his eye, the fight can be pushed to 2021.

The fight against Frampton could very well be the last fight for WBO junior lightweight titleholder.

Jamel Herring’s wife wants him to retire after the fight with Carl Frampton

Herring accepted all the criticism from fans with an open arm. He has even mentioned that he will tighten things up when he goes up against Frampton. However, some of his tweets suggested a rather disappointed outlook towards the Frampton fight. This, however, could very well be because of the state of mind that he is in right now.

A former US Marine, Jamel Herring has witnessed a lot of troubles in his life. Coming from a tough childhood, Herring lost a daughter due to sudden infant death syndrome. However, he has always fought his way back. While it is highly likely that he will do the same once again, his wife doesn’t want him to continue fighting after his next fight.

Despite the cut, Herring has suffered no broken bones. He had an old broken bone resulting from a facial injury that never properly healed, resulting in the issue with his vision. With no serious injuries, Herring would now fix his attention to his toughest, and possibly last challenge, in the form of Frampton.