Jamel Herring has successfully defended his WBO junior lightweight title against Jonathan Oquendo in tonight’s main event of Top Rank’s fight card. However, Herring was not expecting to defend his title in such a fashion.
After outpointing Oquendo with two successful knockdowns, Herring was awarded the victory because of a disqualification. Surprisingly, Jonathan landed some illegal headbutts in round fifth, which cost him the title.
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That said, Oquendo was still struggling to locate a gap in Herring’s gameplan and the duo danced till the eighth round. Here’s how the WBO title fight went down.
Jamel Herring retains his WBO junior lightweight title
The fight started as a banger. None of the contenders hesitated to swing blows. From the very beginning, the contest seemed alluring as both men gave their best inside the ring.
However, the champion was seemingly the aggressor tonight. Herring landed some crisp combinations on the body and head, which forced the challenger to close distance with unwanted clinches.
6 rounds down, 6 rounds to go, 1 knockdown, some blood …#HerringOquendo heads into its second half, LIVE NOW on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/NavC3ZLdDk
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) September 6, 2020
It did not prove to be very beneficial as Herring responded with fire. But Oquendo seemed desperate to win the fight. While the contest was in its fifth round, the challenger opened up Herring’s head with some illegal head butts.
The champion seemed a bit hesitant from that point. It clearly affected his gameplan, as he could envision nothing properly. That said, Herring still went for three more rounds inside the squared circle with Oquendo having the upper hand in that stage.
Before moving to the ninth, Herring claimed that the headbutts affected his vison badly and he couldn’t see anything. It immediately called off the contest as the judges disqualified Oquendo for his actions.
A bloody affair in the main event ends with @JamelHerring retaining his WBO Junior Lightweight strap via disqualification following intentional headbutts.
Debate away: #HerringFrampton ➡️ Who you taking right now? pic.twitter.com/XIgwTGBhA9
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) September 6, 2020
Herring (22-2) is still the WBO junior lightweight champion of the world.
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Looking at the current scenario, it is safe to state that Herring and Oquendo should run it back. Although Jamel Herring was dominating the contest, the challenger was responding with shots of his own. The rematch can look very different from the original contest, especially when the first had an abrupt and controversial ending like this.
Read More: “Can’t Put a Band-Aid on it” – Heavyweight Boxer Warns Dillian Whyte
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