Jamel Herring Goes To 17-2 With MSG Win; Teofimo Lopez Gets KO Win in NYC

Jamel Herring came to the ring with a splendid accompaniment, the Marine Corps hymn. And he kept up the momentum with solid work against Juan Pablo Sanchez, in the second bout of the seven fight card put together by Top Rank at Madison Square Garden on May 12, 2018.

The Herring tango, set for 8 rounds or less at the lightweight class, saw Jamel look to get into a rhythm. He did so, he was busy and accurate on his Mexican foe from the get go. And he accelerated, ramping up the pressure incrementally, till round 5, when he stepped on the gas and whacked away at Sanchez, forcing a stop.

Herring upped his mark to 17-2. In the round three, we saw a cut form on Herring’s right eye, and the doc looked at it and let him go.

Sanchez dropped to 29-16, and in the fourth, he dipped and weaved, and looked to come forward. But he was backing up, on the ropes, and getting basted in the final minute.

To round 5—Herring, the lefty, had a height edge and he worked low and then high. The ref saw enough after the doc told an official to tell the ref to pull the plug. The end came at 1:28.

It was good work, a rust shedder, and Herring will be in tougher his next outing.

“It felt great to be back in the ring,” he said after. “To get a stoppage against a guy who hasn’t been stopped since 2012, it’s a great feeling. The Marines, we love blood. When we smell blood, even if it’s our own, we’re going to go for the kill. I had to because he was coming for me. I showed a little bit of boxing. I showed I could stand there and brawl. I showed everything.”

He said the cut was a scratch, then he was butted, and a slice opened. It took four stitches to close, Herring said.

He was happy with his outing, and looks to come back maybe in July, or August, maybe aim for a regional title. His jab could have been more peppy, at times, but he said it was good to get work. He’d last fought in August 2017, and then signed on with Top Rank, after being with Al Haymon. Top Rank’s crew, Brad and Brad and the like, seemed to be happy, so he was happy.

Teofimo Lopez dropped and stopped Vitor Freitas, who came all the way from Brazil for a first round and out session. A right hand, behind the ear, maybe even further back, sent him to the mat, discombobulated. The ref started a count but the ring doc told him no mas. Teo is 9-0, and he did a backflip after the telling blow finished the event.

Freitas is 13-2.

Teo also danced a jig (Irish jig Brooklyn style?) after he did the flip. Lopez told me after that he’s thankful to get media attention, and he worked very hard coming in to this fight. He’s engaging, he showered and then came ringside, dressed in a tailored suit, and made the rounds of bigwig media. I sauntered over. “Hey, good work. Man, you’e going to have lots of fans. And also, with that confidence…”

“Lots of haters,” he finished for me.

“Yep,” I said, and Lopez smiled. He gets how this works.

Mikaela Mayer rose to 5-0, downing Baby Nansen from New Zealand in a lightweight tango, set for six or less. Al Mitchell yelled instructions from the corner and the Cali hitter Mayer listened. She puts punches together well, flows nicely. He one-two-ones were piling up the points for her, into the sixth.

Mayer was the aggressor, and Nansen backed up. She was the better grunter of the two, for sure. But grunts don’t win bouts, and Nansen didn’t. She did reach the final bell, but lost UD6, 60-54, times three.

Mick Conlan was in against a survivor so his bout wasn’t excessively thrilling. The Irishman got rounds and a W, so all in all, a successful trip to NYC. Conlan is now 7-0 and his Spanish foe, Ibon Larrinaga, slips to 10-2.