Jamel Herring vs Shakur Stevenson predictions: Fight card, odds, start time, how to watch, preview

He may have been a little under the radar this weekend, but nonetheless, the two 130-pound talented wrestlers will face off in Atlanta on Saturday with their WBO junior lightweight title at stake.

With the exciting knockout round of two-division champion Carl Frampton, Jamel Herring (23-2, 11 KOs) will be looking for his fourth WBO title defense as he welcomes former star and featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson (16-0, 8). KOs) Inside the State Farm Arena (22:30 ET, ESPN).

The main story that came into the fight was the growing friendship (or dissolution, depending on your watchtower) between them thanks to general boxing circles.

24-year-old Stevenson, who won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics, has developed a close bond and mentor / tutor relationship with welterweight champion Terence Crawford. Herring, 35, has been coached by Crawford coach Brian “BoMac” McIntyre in recent years, which means the lightweight junior pair have been reunited in the same extended group of friends for some time, although this day may be possible after Stevenson’s choice. to gain weight.

Both are not known as big junk speakers and both have been respectful, but they have been straight to each other in the construction of the fight, which is the face of the big smile between them at last Thursday’s press conference. However, if you listen closely enough, there has been a level of tension underneath considering the threat to boil.

“It’s definitely not personal and it’s ultimately business,” Stevenson said. “I don’t care. He’s not my friend. I don’t talk to Jamel Herring outside of boxing.”

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Herring, who spent two working days in Iraq as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, agreed.

“It’s nothing personal and it’s just business,” Herring said. “We’re building a fight, that’s for me. I’ve heard worse and I’ve had a worse time. We’re just two of the top competitors in the business trying to prove who’s the best.

“It feels like another high-level elite fight at a high-level and talented level. For me, we take a single fight and put all our personal feelings aside. We do what we have to do.”

Despite Stevenson’s success as a professional in 16 fights, it allows him to be a two-division champion instead of a forward performance. If boxing has long been an unforgivable sport in which every fighter is only as good as his last performance, Stevenson suffered a lot of criticism when he decided to beat the tough Jeremiah Nakathila in June.

Although Stevenson scored the same 120-107 cards in a stoppage in the 4th round at a standstill, the performance was inspiring or exciting. The proud native of Newark, New Jersey, did not agree, however, when asked if Herring should be expelled in order to regain the praise of critics.

“Certainly not. In the end, this is an elite and championship-level fight,” Stevenson said. “You can’t judge me for a fight when I’ve done it time and time again [again]. I can’t say I’m going for a knockout, but if he makes a mistake, I’ll capitalize. ”

Herring himself knows a thing or two about what a nightmare can do for a fighter’s reputation. His 2020 title defense against Jonathan Oquendo, who Herring repeatedly won by disqualification for the buttocks of his head, was hampered by criticism that Herring had suffered the consequences of fouls and basically claimed victory outside the fight.

However, when his credentials were suddenly questioned, Herring responded as best he could when he traveled to Dubai in April and ended up not only finishing at the future Hall of Fame in Frampton, but sent him into retirement after an exciting sixth-round TKO.

Herring is not worried about hearing the oddsmakers who have lifted the defending champion 6-1 against Stevenson.

“He plays into my story,” Herring said. “I’ve always been weaker, not just in boxing, but in life. I’m not into the oddsmaker of the whole thing, yet I’m not betting. It doesn’t bother me at all.”

Stevenson thinks this is going to be his starting party and it’s up to Herring to stop that.

“It’s going to feel really good to win the whole team. I can’t wait to fight back [Herring trainers Brian McIntyre and Red Spikes]. It’s not just Jamel that I’m fighting for. I have to win Bomac and Red, and it will feel good to do that, ”Stevenson said.

“You’ll see a special night, my outing party. It’s going to be a great night, and he said he’s going to ruin the party, see if he can do it.”

The bottom card is also a feature of some of the Top Rank’s rising opportunities. Look no further than the co-feat wrestling, where 19-year-old Xander Zayas returns to face Dan Karpency in a middleweight junior fight. Both are ready for a six-round affair. Zayas has not been impressive since becoming a professional in October 2019 with a perfect 10-0 record and seven playoffs. The Puerto Rican native is still slowly building his name before rising to 154-pound highs.

Also, some relatives of the ring’s legends are up and running on Saturday as their careers continue to grow. Evan Holyfield, the son of former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, is back in the junior middleweight competition when he takes on Charles Stanford. Holyfield has followed in his father’s footsteps with a perfect 7-0 record and five playoffs in his young career. In addition, Muhammad Ali’s grandson, Nico Ali Walsh, has returned to middleweight competitions when he faces James Westley II. Ali Walsh made the wave in August with his TKO victory in his professional debut. Saturday’s competition will be four rounds.

Fighting card, odds

Odds via Caesars Sportsbook

• Shakur Stevenson (16-0, 8 KOs) -900 vs. Jamel Herring (c) (23-2, 11 KOs) +600, WBO junior lightweight title
• Xander Zayas (10-0, 7 KOs) -4000 vs. Dan Karpency (9-3-1, 4 KOs) +1500, junior middleweight (six rounds)
• Nico Ali Walsh (1-0) vs. James Westley II (1-0), middleweight (four rounds)

Forecast

A former amateur fan who represented the United States at the 2012 Olympics, Herring deserves to be able to turn his pro-career in recent years after a failure moved him from being a future competitor to a frontier passenger status.

A highly intelligent boxer in the South, Herring has won seven in a row and remains one of the best boxing stories. But there’s a reason the odds of betting are getting into this fight and that’s because Stevenson has shown the long-term potential of a big pound in the future.

Unless Herring slows down when Stevenson goes to the body, this one has all the conditions to have a long night in the office. Stevenson’s speed and footwork are sublime, which means that even if you can’t (or don’t want to) go to the playoffs, the default delay in boxing from the outside, whatever entertainment value it creates, remains an option.

Stevenson’s ability to play without hitting can be compared to a young Floyd Mayweather at the moment. Hopefully this natural gap in speed will be enough to overcome Herring.

Choose: Stevenson via UD12

Who wins Herring against Stevenson? And what props are essential? Visit SportsLine now to see Brandon Wise’s best bets for Saturday, all by the hand of a CBS wrestling sports specialist who stepped up his boxing opportunities in 2021, and find out.