Fight Week: Jamel Herring, Shakur Stevenson set for compelling clash
FIGHT WEEK
JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT TITLEHOLDER JAMEL HERRING WILL DEFEND HIS BELT AGAINST GIFTED SHAKUR STEVENSON IN A HUGE FIGHT FOR BOTH MEN ON SATURDAY.
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OSCAR RIVAS (27-1, 19 KOs) VS. RYAN ROZICKI (13-0, 13 KOs)
When: Friday, Oct. 22
Where: Olympia Theatre, Montreal
TV/Stream: ESPN+
Division: Bridgerweight (224-pound limit)
At stake: Vacant WBC title
Pound-for-pound ranking: None
Odds: NA
Also on the card: Sebastien Bouchard vs. Sergio Ortega, welterweights; Steve Rolls vs. Gregory Trenel, super middleweights
Prediction: Rivas KO 5
Background: The winner of this fight will become the inaugural champion of the newly created division between heavyweight and cruiserweight, the brainchild of the WBC. Rivas, a career-long heavyweight who is 6 foot, ½ inch, has some credentials. He stopped one-time heavyweight title challenger Bryant Jennings in January 2019 and was competitive in a unanimous-decision loss to Dillian Whyte six months later. He weighed 239¼ pounds for the Whyte fight but dropped down to 221¼ for his most-recent bout, a third-round stoppage of Sylvera Louis in March. He’s a natural bridgerweight, if there is such a thing. Rivas was scheduled to face Jennings again for the “title” but the American reportedly pulled out over quarantine restrictions related to COVID-19. He was replaced by Rozicki, a relative unknown who has fought as a cruiserweight his entire career. The Canadian has never faced an elite opponent and has taken part in only two scheduled 10-round bout yet is fighting for what the WBC calls a world championship.
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JAMEL HERRING (23-2, 11 KOs) VS. SHAKUR STEVENSON (16-0, 8 KOs)
When: Saturday, Oct. 23
Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta
TV/Stream: ESPN and ESPN+
Division: Junior lightweights
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.
Also fighting this weekend: Ganigan Lopez (36-11, 19 KOs) will face Jose Soto Munoz (15-0, 6 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round junior bantamweight fight in Mexico City (Telemundo).
