Jamel Herring vs. Shakur Stevenson: date, time, how to watch, weights, background
JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT TITLEHOLDER JAMEL HERRING WILL DEFEND HIS BELT AGAINST GIFTED SHAKUR STEVENSON IN A HUGE FIGHT FOR BOTH MEN ON SATURDAY.
JAMEL HERRING (23-2, 11 KOs) VS. SHAKUR STEVENSON (16-0, 8 KOs)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 23
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET / 4: 30 PT (main event later in show)
Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta
TV/Stream: ESPN and ESPN+
Cost: ESPN+ costs $6.99 per month or $69.99 annually
Division: Junior lightweights (130-pound limit)
Weights (from Friday’s weigh-in): Herring 129.8, Stevenson 130.0
At stake: Herring’s WBO title
Pound-for-pound ranking: None
Odds: Stevenson 6½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
Also on the card: Nico Ali Walsh vs. James Westley, middleweights
Prediction: Stevenson UD
Background: This is one of the best-possible matchups in boxing, as Herring and Stevenson arguably are the two of the three best 130-pounders in the world, including Oscar Valdez. Herring, 35, is a late bloomer who overcame losses to Denis Shafikov and Ladarius Miller in 2016 and 2017 to build himself into a world champion, a distinction he earned by easily outpointing Masayuki Ito to win the WBO version of the title in May 2019. The tall (5-foot-10), rangy boxer from Cincinnati has successfully defended his belt three times, including an impressive sixth-round knockout of former Fighter of the Year Carl Frampton this past April. Stevenson, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist, is a polished boxer who has been blessed with unusual speed and athleticism. None of his 16 opponents gave him much of a fight, including veterans Christopher Diaz, Joet Gonzalez and Toka Kahn Clary. Stevenson defeated Gonzalez by a near-shutout decision to win the vacant WBO featherweight title but vacated immediately to campaign at junior lightweight. He’s coming off a shutout of Jeremiah Nakathila in June.
