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JAMEL HERRING TALKS DENIS SHAFIKOV CLASH: "THERE IS NO WAY THIS KID CAN OUTBOX ME"

By Percy Crawford | June 29, 2016
JAMEL HERRING TALKS DENIS SHAFIKOV CLASH:

"I took this fight because I'm trying to get ahead of the game and get in title contention...I'm getting the fight that I was looking for...I've been studying this dude long before I thought about fighting him. I was looking at him when he fought Miguel Vazquez...I honestly feel like with my amateur pedigree, there is no way this kid can outbox me, but if he wants to get physical, we can get physical in there too...he's a tough guy that can take a beating," stated lightweight contender Jamel Herring, who talked about his upcoming clash with Denis Shafikov. Check it out!

PC: Denis Shafikov coming up July 2nd on ESPN. He has more knockouts than you have fights and almost triple the amount of fights that you have. Why him? Why now?

JH: Like I always said before, I don't want to fight guys that's not going to teach me anything or boost my career. I've always been the type to test and push myself. You'll see a lot of guys out here who are 30-0, but their not even ranked in the top 10 in their own country. So I took this fight because I'm trying to get ahead of the game and get in title contention.

PC: You have always mentioned possibly fighting Shafikov. Do you think that's how you landed this fight, kind of by default when a few of his other ideas fell through?

JH: Oh yeah, exactly! That's how I felt about it when I got the call. When Al and his people called me back about the fight, I kind of laughed because they offered me the fight before. It doesn't take me that long to say yes or no to a fight, so it took me a day or so to agree to it. We were waiting for the word because it wasn't in concrete yet. And then later on, I see he was supposed to be fighting Joel Diaz Jr., so I laughed at that and I found out that fight fell through, and then he was supposed to fight someone else and that fell through, so he had no choice but to come back this route. I don't know what it was or if they just weren't interested in the fight or whatever, but from my end, we got it together now and I'm getting the fight that I was looking for.

PC: You stay in the gym. Physically, how did you feel in camp?

JH: I feel great, man. I sparred with Lamont Peterson; he converted to a southpaw. Lamont is that dude that likes to come forward, just like Shafikov, but he's a lot bigger and physically stronger. Barry Hunter decided to throw Lamont in with me just to get a better feel on what's to come. If you can deal with Lamont for that many rounds with pressure like that, this fight shouldn't be that bad when it comes to the real thing.

PC: Fighters just get in the ring and fight and that's just what you guys do, but when facing another southpaw, does it require any special approach from you?

JH: You know, it's crazy but the majority of my gym is southpaws in Cincinnati. The only right-handed fighters that are in my camp that's on that level is Robert Easter Jr. and Adrien Broner. I'm always sparring with southpaws.

PC: How do you take his experience away from him and not let it be a factor in this fight?

JH: I was always told when I first started boxing that your opponent could have a hundred wins, but at the end of the day, he hasn't fought you, so I can't look at those hundred wins as anything until he gets in there with me. I'm not overlooking his experience, he got all of these fights, but the two main fights that he really needed to be something really special, he lost. I've been studying this dude long before I thought about fighting him. I was looking at him when he fought Miguel Vazquez. As a matter of fact, I was looking at that fight last night; not so much because he has a similar style, but in terms of us both being boxers. I watched the Rances Barthelemy fight in terms of, even Rances admitted recently that he made that fight more difficult than he had to. He didn't use his reach and just box. I honestly feel like with my amateur pedigree, there is no way this kid can outbox me, but if he wants to get physical, we can get physical in there too. I'm not going to fall into his fight game, but at the same time, I respect him as a tough opponent. Everybody keeps saying they are real proud of me for taking this fight, he's a tough guy though. I know he's tough, but if you want to base it on just skills, I don't think he's a superstar; he's a tough guy that can take a beating.

PC: Anytime you deal with a pressure fighter, conditioning is important. Is that something you've concentrated on for this particular fight?

JH: Oh yeah! I actually stressed that to Barry when I arrived to finish up my training. I was already in shape, but we all knew that conditioning would play a major factor in this fight. I can outbox him, but I'm going to need to pull that off for 10 rounds straight and be sharp. His game is to come forward and that's when he's going to try and get his attack off. I just have to play it smart. My technique is there because I'm mostly a technician, but I have to keep that up for 10 rounds.

PC: That's another important factor; you've been scheduled to go 10 rounds like 4 times already, so that isn't new territory to you.

JH: I think that's going to play a big part because if you look at my last two opponents that I went the distance with, they were considered pressure fighters as well and I made them look easy by just playing it smart and using my reach. I don't feel like I lost not one round in my last two fights. That's how I'm approaching this fight. Yeah, he's tough and experienced, but I gotta fight my fight because I'm preparing for the best Shafikov, but he might have a bad day or a great day; you don't know what he's going to do.



[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]

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