Call Shakur Stevenson unimpressed with WBO super featherweight titlist Jamel Herring, following the their first face to face meeting yesterday in Atlanta to officially announce their October 23 matchup at State Farm Arena.
During the ceremonial faceoff, the undefeated Stevenson jawed heavily at a stoic Herring and then later his trainer Brian “Bomac” McIntyre, telling him “You got the heart, (points at Herring) I don’t know about him!”
When later asked to clarify his comments, Stevenson revealed his intentions were to warn Herring about reading too much into the challenger’s relaxed state during most of the press conference.
“I didn’t want him thinking just because we’re at the press conference and I’m not saying much [that it means I’m scared],” Stevenson explained to BeatsBoxingMayhem.com. “I’m trying to being humble, but if I say something on social media I had to let him know I can say it to his face as well… That was mainly what I was telling him [during the face-off].”
Herring, who will be making the fourth defense of the title he won via decision against Masayuki Ito in May 2019, is coming off a signature win by being the first man to stop Carl Frampton last April. Although Stevenson acknowledges Herring’s three-inch height advantage at 5’10 and naturally bigger frame due to having fought at 135 pounds in past years, the Newark native bluntly named several key deficiencies he finds in the champion’s game.
“I feel physically he’s not that strong,” said Stevenson. “He’s mentally weak and I feel like his inside game is a little suspect. On the inside he grabs and doesn’t know how to punch.
“The fight [against Jonathan Oquendo] where the head butt happened, he asked Bomac to stop the fight. He clearly said I’m done, so at the end of the day I saw quit [in him]. You can say he’s a marine and mentally strong and all that, but I seen a quitter at the end of the day.”
Watch Stevenson’s full BeatsBoxingMayhem interview, which includes more on the October 23 Herring matchup, his thoughts on comparisons to Gervonta Davis’ recent Atlanta fights and more.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 