Former WBO junior lightweight champion Jamel Herring will make his bare knuckle fighting debut when he competes at BKFC 86 on Jan. 17, 2026.
Herring began boxing in 2001 when his soon to become trainer Austin Hendrickson invited him to the boxing gym for workouts. He then enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in October 2003 and served two tours of duty in Iraq.
After his first deployment, Herring tried out for the All-Marine Corps boxing team in January 2006. While on the team, Herring competed all over the national scene and even fought against former world champion Jesse Vargas at the 2006 National PAL tournament.
Herring won a silver medal at the 2010 World Military Games and took a gold medal at the 2011 and 2012 Armed Forces Championships while a Sergeant in the Corps.
He would win gold in the 2012 Olympic Trials defeating multiple Nationals champions. Herring qualified for the 2012 Olympics. Jamel, along with the entire U.S. boxing team, only had two weeks prior to the games to train together as a complete team. He was the only United States Marine to compete at the London Olympics and the first active-duty Marine to qualify for the U.S. boxing team since 1992.
In May 2019, he became a world champion by defeating Masayuki Ito to win the WBO junior lightweight title.
His overall professional boxing record is 24-5.
In his BKFC debut, Jamel Herring will face Matt Guymon (2-1) at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
BKFC 86 is headlined by Julian Lane vs. Dustin Pague.
