Jamel Herring upsets Masayuki Ito to win WBO Super Featherweight Title!
Faced with a life full of turmoil and tragedy, Jamel Herring made the most of his first world title opportunity. He has defeated Masayuki Ito by unanimous decision to win the WBO Super-Featherweight title tonight in Kissimmee, FL.
The Breakdown
During the first three rounds, Herring controlled the distance and pace of the bout. He effectively boxed behind a quick left jab, along with occasional straight lefts to the body, as well as counter-right hooks to the head of Ito.
The former Marine continued to control the pace in a similar fashion in the fourth and fifth rounds. Ito was trying to get inside and land his vaunted power right-hand.
However, he was having great difficulty solving the puzzle that was Herring’s jab. In round five, Ito began to rough up the challenger on the inside,. All the while, Herring kept his composure.
Ito started landing occasionally, finding a home for his right hand towards the end of round six. Although, he was telegraphing with his shots.
In spite of the fact that this was Ito’s third world title fight and Herring’s first title shot, overall the challenger is the more experienced based on his combined pro and amateur pedigree.
The Cincinatti native had 92 amateur bouts while Ito did not have an amateur career. As a result at times, Herring was able to use his footwork to get the champion off-balance.
In the eighth, the Japanese champion started to get on the inside and maul Herring, who looked like he was showing signs of fatigue. Ito was fighting with a sense of urgency, but was too dependent on trying to land the right hand instead of setting his shots up.
During the last two rounds, Herring did and excellent job of being smart and boxing as the crowd began to chant “USA, USA, USA”.
Conclusion
In a real touching moment after the decision was announced, Herring dedicated the fight to his daughter Ariyanah. She passed away in 2009 from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and May 25 would’ve been her tenth birthday.
He also dedicated the fight to his deceased best friend Stephen Brown, as well as his fellow Marines for which he yelled “Oorah” during the post-fight interview.
When asked about the possibility of fighting WBC Super-Featherweight champion Miguel Berchelt, who was ringside watching the fight and was in the ring during the post-fight interview, Herring said
“if it makes sense let’s do it”. In response, Berchelt first congratulated Herring on his victory then said “yeah, let’s make the fight happen!”
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
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