Boxing: Former Marine, Iraq Veteran Jamel Herring Fights Without Fear

Jamel Herring laughs at the memories. The undefeated 30-year-old lightweight is allowed to do so. All real tough guys are permitted such releases. It is like a special club that only the brave are allowed to join; it comes from an inherent steely resolve constantly whispering in their heads saying they can grin down danger.

Herring has experience in that department. He has seen roadside IEDs blow up. He has had RPG rockets whizz across his head. His initial natural reaction was to flinch, as anyone would, then spot the trouble and take care of it. It was all part of two tours in Iraq, in 2005 and again in 2007, and though he was a 2012 Olympian, you get the sense he is far more proud of being a United States Marine for nine years.

There is also a feeling he radiates that he cannot be fazed by anything he sees in the ring. The rest of the country is about to find that out when Herring (14-0, 8 KOs) makes his network TV debut against Luis Eduardo Flores (21-2, 17 KOs) in a 10-round lightweight fight under the Premier Boxing Champions banner on Tuesday on Fox Sports 1/Fox Deportes, from the Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

“Boxing is a fun thing, especially after some of the things that I witnessed,” Herring said. “Boxing to me is an outlet to everything. It’s rough over there. You’re deployed for seven, eight months out in the desert, and it’s a different world where people are trying to kill you. You’re out there and you don’t know who to trust. You have to be watchful at all times. There was a sergeant I knew at the time that lost his life to an IED, and in 2007, I knew another sergeant who lost his life, and he had a 2-week-old son. That’s tough, especially something like that. It touched home because one day you’re talking to someone and you expect to see him, and the next day he’s not there. Plus, it was about the time that I was expecting my first son, and I couldn’t imagine not coming back home to see him.

“Those things matured me,” he added. “It makes you appreciate life more, and those little things that used to bother you, they don’t anymore. You learn you can’t waste time on stupid little things. There was one time I was with a convoy when a truck in front of us got hit by an IED. There was another time when an RPG flew by us and into the building behind us. It wasn’t like old warfare where you knew who the enemy was and who you could trust and who you couldn’t trust. You can’t trust anybody.”

Herring admits the experience changed him, but he also believes he is better for it. He sees life from a different perspective, and boxing has served a major role in the process.

“Boxing was a great outlet and a hobby, and you can take out everything in boxing,” Herring said. “Boxing is also something that I love. I boxed a little prior to joining the Marines, but most of my amateur experience came when I was in the Marines.”

Herring said he knows a little about Flores. He has some power but nothing Herring, a southpaw from Cincinnati, has not seen before.

“I’m always in shape, and I hope he’s in shape, because he’s going to bring his A-game,” said Herring, who turned pro in December 2012. “I have the amateur experience, and I know how to win a fight. I was in the Olympics and that was an amazing experience. I lost in the first round, but I’ve seen the best fighters in the world. Getting to the Olympics was a journey in its own. It was a great honor. To me, it’s far bigger honor to have served my country as a Marine for nine years. I want to show people that I’m a tough character and that I belong with the other top prospects in the lightweight division.”

After what he has seen, nothing any lightweight in the world can do would pose a threat to Herring.

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.