Jamel Herring made up for the COVID-related postponements, defending his WBO junior lightweight world title via eighth-round disqualification over Puerto Rican challenger Jonathan Oquendo at the MGM Grand Conference Center.
Referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight at the conclusion of the round due to repeated intentional headbutts, which left ‘Semper Fi’ unable to continue.
Herring (22-2, 10 KOs) knocked down Oquendo (31-7, 19 KOs) in the second round, and then the headbutts began. He opened up a nasty gash above Herring’s right eye and was deducted a point in the fifth round.
The headbutts continued and ultimately spelled the end of the evening for Oquendo. At the time of the disqualification, Jamel Herring was in control on the scorecards (80-70 2x and 79-71).
Herring said, “It just got ugly. I wasn’t too satisfied with my performance, to be honest with you.
“In the beginning, everything was going real smooth, me boxing. I put him down with an uppercut. We knew he was going to come head-first. We had to time it.
Sitting in a hospital, alone, while being called out with all sorts of negativity is something else. I’m not angry, I’m not sad, just deep in thought. I will still fulfill my obligations against Frampton, but that fight may be my last. Lost too much time from my family as it is🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/xAxYPbU5Dk
— Jamel Herring (@JamelHerring) September 6, 2020
“In the end, I wasn’t happy with how I was looking. I’m disappointed with the outcome. I’ve never been in that situation.
“I still want the Carl Frampton fight next by all means. November, December, whatever. I still want that fight next.”
RODRIGUEZ
Watch out for light flyweight Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.
The San Antonio native knocked out the normally durable Janiel Rivera (18-7-3, 11 KOs) in the opening round. It’s the first time Rivera had been knocked out since 2014.
Rodriguez is trained by Robert Garcia, and his brother, Joshua Franco, recently won a super flyweight world title inside the “Bubble.”
Rodriguez said, “I felt amazing. I told Robert in the locker room, ‘This is the best I’ve ever felt.’ I think I showed that today.
“To have a brother as a champion is really motivating to me. In camp, I was thinking that my brother became a champ, and I can do the same.
“There were times in camp I didn’t feel like working out or running, but I thought about my brother, and he motivated me.
“Just the thought of him being a world champ brought out the best of me in camp.”
