Jamel Herring didn’t take long to announce his return to boxing.

The former WBO junior lightweight titleholder stopped the previously unbeaten Nicholas Molina at 2:49 of the first round on Tuesday at the Edison Ballroom in New York City in his first bout following an 18-month retirement.

The 38-year-old Herring (24-4, 12 knockouts) from Coram, N.Y. was too much for the 24-year-old from Lowell, Mass., dropping Molina (13-1, 5 KOs) twice on straight left hands and bloodying his face before referee Arthur Mercante Jr. mercifully waived the bout off.

The bout headlined the latest edition of DiBella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing series and was a specially themed show called “Heroes on the Hudson,” which was a one-night only event which would benefit the charities Merging Vets and Players, as well as the West Point Society of New York.

And it's over!

First round TKO in @JamelHerring 's return to action!🔥#HerringMolina pic.twitter.com/auT3aJFTaj

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 8, 2023

Herring, a 2012 U.S. Olympian, is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served two tours of duty in Iraq.

The bout was the first for Herring since he suffered back-to-back defeats to Shakur Stevenson and Jamaine Ortiz in 2021 and 2022, and was his first opening round stoppage since his third bout in 2013. Herring was trained by former WBC bantamweight titleholder Wayne McCullough for this fight.

Earlier on the card, Mikiah Kreps (7-0, 3 KOs) of Niagara Falls, N.Y. defeated Isis Vargas Perez (9-6, 3 KOs) by the unanimous scores of 80-72, 78-74 and 78-74 in an eight-round junior featherweight bout,

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