After throwing series of verbal exchanges, Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring and Shakur Stevenson will have the opportunity to settle their scores in the ring on Saturday, October 23 at the award-winning State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Herring [23-2, 11 KOs], a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who captained the 2012 U.S. Olympic boxing team, has made three defenses of the world title he won via decision over Masayuki Ito in May 2019. After a challenging 2020 campaign that included a bout with COVID-19 and a disqualification victory over Jonathan Oquendo, Herring punched his passport in April and knocked out former two-weight world champion Carl Frampton in Dubai.
He now steps up against pound-for-pound talent and 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medalist Stevenson [16-0, 8 KOs], a former WBO featherweight world champion who vacated the title last year to move up to junior lightweight.
Stevenson is 3-0 at junior lightweight, most recently picking up the interim WBO junior lightweight world title in June with a shutout decision over Namibia’s Jeremiah Nakathila.
Stevenson has lost only a handful of rounds since turning pro in April 2017, a dominant run that’s included victories over the likes of Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz and Joet Gonzalez.
“2021 has been good to me so far. I started the year with a big fight and a major win over Frampton,” Herring said.
“I look forward to finishing out the year the same way I started it, not only with another huge victory, but as a world champion.
“I have nothing else to say. I’m focused on October 23 and the fourth title defense of my WBO belt.”
Stevenson said, “Jamel had to fight me, or he would’ve been stripped of his world title. I boxed him into a corner, and I am going to take his world title in devastating fashion on October 23.
“I can’t wait to fight in front of the amazing fans in Atlanta. Trust me, you are going to see a show, and I will become a two-weight world champion.”
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