US MARINE Jamel Herring says Carl Frampton’s pot-shots won’t put a dent in him as the tension begins to rise ahead of their battle for the WBO super-featherweight title on February 28.
Frampton has argued that he is superior boxer with better footwork, faster hands and greater punching power but Herring, the reigning champion, says the Belfast challenger’s statements are just a means for him to “psych himself up” for the fight.
He argues that they betray a lack of confidence in the Jackal’s camp and warns Frampton: “It would be a mistake to underestimate me”.
“It doesn’t bother me what he says,” New Yorker Herring told The Irish News.
“He has to do what he’s got to do to psych himself up I guess and he can say whatever he wants but, when it comes down to it, we’re going to have to fight and he’s going to realise that he’s not physically stronger than me, I know that for a fact.
“Everything he says, he has to back it up. He has been doing a lot of trash-talking which doesn’t bother me at all because, come on now, I’m a US Marine. I’ve seen and heard worse! I think he’s doing what he has to do to pump himself up.”
Both fighters have been regulars on social media ahead of their meeting in just under six weeks’ time. Herring, who took the WBO belt from Japan’s Masayuki Ito in May 2019 and has defended it twice since then, insists that he will allow nothing to distract him from being at his peak for the London rumble.
“You normally don’t see Frampton like this,” he said.
“He’s usually quieter but, look around, he’s been the one doing the most talking. I’ve just been busy at my end, working on my craft and working to be the best Jamel Herring I can possibly be.
“When the fight was being talked about he was saying I had a weight issue because I’m a bigger guy now he’s saying other stuff. He’s been throwing stuff out but I don’t bother with that, I just focus on what’s in front of me and on the game plan that my team lays out and I go from there.
“He can talk all he wants but on February 27 he has to back it all up. Every day I wake up with a smile knowing that I have the opportunity for a huge match-up.”
Frampton (33) is two years younger than Herring who stands five inches taller and will have considerable reach advantages. He’s a southpaw too and Frampton, who has been sparring with lefty Jack Catterall in preparation for the fight, will be plotting a strategy to get inside those long arms and get his punches off.
Winning on February 28 would make Frampton Ireland’s first-ever three-weight world champion and that could be a fairytale ending to his career. However, Herring warns that he intends to rip up the Jackal’s script.
“I came up the hard way,” he said.
“Even as a US Olympian, I had to work for everything. So if he thinks that he’s so much better than me in all these aspects, well ok, that’s fine.
“He’s saying now that I have nothing but a height advantage or whatever but it would be unwise for him to underestimate me.”
