Masayuki Ito vs Jamel Herring planned for May 25

Top Rank is putting together a deal for a WBO super featherweight title fight on May 25 in Florida, with Masayuki Ito defending his belt against former U.S. Olympian Jamel Herring. The fight will air on ESPN.

Ito (25-1-1, 13 KO) beat Christopher Diaz last July in Kissimmee, Florida, where this fight will also be held. That win netted him the then-vacant WBO title, which had been vacated by Vasiliy Lomachenko when Lomachenko moved up to 135. He went on to stop challenger Evgeny Chuprakov in the seventh round of his first defense on Dec. 30.

Herring (19-2, 10 KO) was a U.S. Olympian in 2012, and is a former Marine. He came into the pro ranks as a lightweight in Dec. 2012, and ran up a 15-0 record against soft competition before running into a bit of a reality check in the form of Denis Shafikov, who stopped Herring in the 10th round of a July 2016 fight. Herring lost again to Ladarius Miller about 13 months later to Ladarius Miller, who scored a wide decision win.

Instead of throwing in the towel, Herring moved down a class to 130, and has gone 3-0. He’s only had one fight where he actually had to make 130 instead of a catchweight, but he looked good in that one, shutting out John Vincent Moralde last September in Fresno.