Jamel Herring thinks Shakur Stevenson will be the one that decides how his fight tonight with Oscar Valdez plays out. In other words, if Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs) wants to go to war, he’ll battle it out with Valdez.
If Shakur chooses to box using his in & out style, that’ll be how the contest is conducted.
For the sake of the boxing fans watching the fight, we can only hope Stevenson chooses to mix it up and make it a watchable one, not the boring match we saw from him in his fights against Jeremia Nakathilia, Joet Gonzalez, and Toka Khan Clary.
WBC super featherweight champion Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) and WBO 130-lb champion Stevenson meet in a unification fight tonight on ESPN and ESPN+ at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“His will and determination. He has the heart of a champion, and you got to respect that,” said Jamel Herring to Fighthype on Oscar Valdez. “He knows what he’s up against [in facing unbeaten Shakur Stevenson], but he’s in to win it.
“Valdez has the tools and the experience to land those shots, but you also have to consider how Shakur plays it out,” Herring said when asked if Valdez will be able to land his powerful left hook on Stevenson.
“It could be a war or a chess match, it’s mainly up to Shakur on how he enters the ring. He’s very sharp. I think his main tool from me being in with him is his IQ, and how he sees everything,” Herring said about Stevenson.
“Even if you flinch, he’s [Shakur] gone. He’s in & out, and he’s great with distance and timing. It’s those little traits that make him what he is today. It’s respectable power. He got the stoppage in the last fight with me.
“Those shots, I didn’t see, and the ones that you don’t see are the ones that hurt. So it’s definitely respectable power. At the same time, Oscar has a lot of great power behind him as well. I think it’s going to come down to which of them brings their A-game.
“They’re both determined and motivated to put on a great performance for their career. Some fighters, we feed off the skill level of our opponent, and they know that this is the biggest fight of their career.
“That’s what we were getting in the fighter’s meeting. I’m just excited to watch it. Their best trait is they don’t know how to lose. They think they’re better than the man across from them no matter what.
“It’s a strong mentality for each man. A lot of people think that if Shakur dictates, it’s going to be a boxing match, but I think they’re both going to bring in a lot of different traits that we haven’t seen from either man.
“That weigh-in was crazy, and I envy that because that shows it’s a real fight. Both men are coming to win, and you got to respect that,” said Herring.
