Jamel Herring talks Gervonta Davis’ move to 135, trouble making big fights at 130

There’s been much movement in the 130-pound weight class, what with Gervonta Davis sharing that he’s exiting 130 and will hit 135.

How things will shake out will take time, but it’s looking like Davis, the power hitter from Baltimore, will take on and take down ultra vet Yuriorkis Gamboa. He’s being built brick-by-brick into being that human ATM, someone who can draw pay-per-view buyers to shell out that extra $75 to see him ply his trade.

I reached out to WBO 130-pound champ Jamel Herring — the former PBC fighter who now does his work under the Top Rank umbrella — for his take on that Gervonta move, and what ripple effects the northward move might cause.

”I mean, in some scenarios there’s a lot of talent in both weight classes but on the other side the fights we want as fans are being made difficult to make,” the 20-2 hitter, 33 years old, told me.

“I’m shocked with the recent news with Tank vacating. I didn’t think weight was the issue since he seem to make it with no problem the last time out, and was trying to pursue a fight against Tevin Farmer. I think the move was made because there really wasn’t anyone he could fight on the PBC/Mayweather side without the business side of things bumping heads.”

Herring snagged his strap in May, when he bested Masayuki Ito in Florida via wide UD-12.

”In terms of my own situation, I just need to stay focused and perform at my best. Better than I did against Ito because rumors are I’ll have a huge event around St. Patrick’s Day at the Garden against Carl Frampton. I can’t get Valdez who’s the number one contender or Miguel Berchelt in the ring, so Frampton will have to do, but I gotta keep my focus on Roach first.”

By Roach, he means mandatory challenger Lamont Roach, a 19-0-1 Maryland resident who fights for Golden Boy Promotions. They’ll scrap in November. And also in the mix at 130 is WBC titlist Berchelt, WBA titleholder Andrew Cancio, and IBF bossman Tevin Farmer.

Time will have to pass for us to get some clarity on that division, of course, with the Gervonta news. But as I noted to Herring, maybe Davis going up will be a blessing, in that the other top tier practitioners will now seek to hustle hard and fill the vacuum. Is this a plausible theory to the fighting pride of Coram, Long Island, who is trained by Brian McIntyre?

”Very true. In my honest opinion, I’d call Gervonta the number one guy in the division, over Berchelt in terms of talent at least. Berchelt is number one and I can’t get him in the ring without excuses and we’re both on the ‘same side of the street.’ With that being said it seems like no matter what side you’re on, if these fighters don’t want to fight, the fight won’t happen. For example, it’s sad we never got the Leo Santa Cruz vs Gary Russell fight and they’re both under the same umbrella.”

Davis jumping to 135 seemingly out of the blue after chatter erupted back and forth between him and Farmer struck some as strange. What say you, readers?