People say my story could be a movie. If I can tell it and help save a life I’ll do that
From going into care as a kid.. to tours in Iraq.. to battling PTSD & alcoholism.. to coping with daughter’s loss.. Frampton foe keeps fighting
AS tough as Carl Frampton undoubtedly is, he is not the hardest opponent Jamel Herring has faced.
From being taken into care as a kid, to serving in Iraq with the US Marines, to battling alcoholism and PTSD, to coping with the death of his first daughter, Herring has dealt with everything life has thrown at him. His achievement in overcoming all this adversity to become WBO superfeatherweight champion shows he has redefined resilience. Herring, who faces Frampton in Dubai tomorrow, said: “People say to me, ‘Your story could turn into a movie’. People always see the good, the world champion. But they don’t always see where I came from. “Somebody might be going through the same scenario as I did when I was five or six and that may help them get through a rough patch. “I’ve been through a lot as a child and as an adult and I still have risen up and got stronger. If I can tell my story and potentially help save a life in the process, then I’ll do that.” Herring’s remarkable journey began when he was four and he and his younger brother Jarod were taken into foster care because their mum, Jeanine, who was 21 and pregnant with her third child at the time, could not cope.
He said: “I remember my mother just being upset and thinking that they just took me.
“That’s the last thing I remember from that experience. I’m 35 years old and that one moment still sticks out.”
That chapter in his life had a happy ending and Herring and his brother were reunited with their mum 18 months later when she showed she could beat her demons.
The New Yorker was motivated by the 9/11 attacks to join the Marines at 18 and did two tours of Iraq, where he was nearly hit by a rocketpropelled grenade.
He boxed for the Marines but tragedy struck in 2009 when his daughter Ariyanah died aged two months from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Herring overcame his grief to turn professional after failing to medal at the London 2012 Olympics and won the WBO title in 2019 against Masayuki Ito.
Frampton will not be dwarfed by Herring as the pint-sized puncher vows to topple the American.
The Belfast boxer is hoping to become the first three-weight world champion from Ireland and just the fourth UK fighter to achieve the feat.
The former super-bantamweight and featherweight world champion faces a big challenge as he gives away five inches in height and seven in reach.
But 5ft 5in Frampton said: “Looking at the height of him didn’t make me hesitate once about the fight. I have this mad thing in my head, I don’t know what it is, I don’t know how small I am until I see photographs of me.
“If I’m standing beside someone I don’t feel like I’m outsized that much. I don’t feel outsized by people until I see a photo and it’s the same here.”
“I fought an American guy called Raynell Williams as an amateur and he was f***ing massive.
“Herring is going to be the biggest guy I’ve faced but I’ve always sparred big guys. This is something that gets me excited rather than putting the fear of God in me.”