He has served in Iraq with the US Marines and lost a baby daughter to SIDS. The WBO super-featherweight champion believes his fraught and testing experiences could help save someone’s life
Jamel Herring’s dark story could be overwhelming but the world champion boxer speaks with such a light touch that all the death and depression, the memories of the Iraq war and his PTSD, are lit up as markers of a past that has shaped him. Herring is explaining how revisiting the bleakest moments actually help him and others who hear everything he overcame on his way to winning the WBO super‑featherweight title a year ago last week.
The 34-year-old American, a retired Marine, is expected to headline US boxing’s first post‑quarantine world championship bill in Las Vegas on 2 July. If the Nevada State Athletic Commission clears the fight, it will take place behind closed doors as Herring defends his title against Jonathan Oquendo.
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