James Bryan Herring (March 19, 1896 – May 7, 1974), also known as Red Herring, was an American boxer, who claimed the world light welterweight championship in 1925.

Herring was born on March 19, 1896, in Paducah, Kentucky, and began boxing in 1913 when he won a bout as a featherweight by knockout on a benefit card for striking railroad workers in Paducah.

He was a Sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War I, and was stationed at both Camp Pike, Arkansas and Camp Shelby, Mississippi where he served as a boxing instructor. He claimed to have gone 35-0-1 in 36 army bouts with the draw coming against the camp's heavyweight. He was the All-Southern Army Lightweight Champion in 1917. He is also said to have been the Featherweight, Lightweight, and Welterweight Champion at Camp Shelby.

After winning a Lightweight elimination tournament in the South, Herring got a chance to meet World Lightweight Champion Benny Leonard on December 19, 1919, in Memphis, Tennessee, losing in an early sixth-round technical knockout. Leonard outmaneuvered Herring with speed and footwork, slipping the half dozen punches thrown by his opponent, with most going well wide of their mark. By the fifth, Herring was helpless against the ropes with the crowd roaring for Leonard to finish the match. Leonard fought with a deadly left, and sent terrific blows to the head and body. One minute into the sixth, Leonard backed Herring into a neutral corner and put him on the canvas with three short rights to the jaw, that led the referee to end the bout at 1:10, after Herring attempted to rise after his first count. The Arkansas Democrat gave Leonard five rounds, with the fourth even. Herring remained on his feet through the first five rounds, but took considerable punishment from the lightweight champion.

Herring fought for the Southern Lightweight Title on August 2, 1920, against Sailor Friedman and won in a 12-round newspaper decision in Wichita Falls, Texas. Friedman fought many of the top lightweight contenders of his era, including Benny Leonard, Lew Tendler, and welterweight Pinky Mitchell.

Herring won on a third-round disqualification to Ray Long on October 18, 1920, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The foul occurred from an odd turn of events, when the arena began to collapse, forcing Long to slip and strike Herring below the belt, incapacitating him. Many in the crowd felt the call should have been for a no contest. The fighting was fast, close, and action-packed in the first two rounds according to ringside observers.

Herring fought Young Stribling twice in 1922 in Macon, Georgia, earning a 10-round draw in their first meeting and losing a 10-round decision in their second. The referee awarded two rounds to each contestant, with the rest even in their first bout on September 4. The sizable crowd of 4,000, were satisfied with the performance of the contestants competing for the Southern Welterweight title and were enthralled as they watched Stribling try desperately to deliver a knockout blow in the final rounds. In their second bout on October 4, Herring was down in the third for a count of nine, and though the match was not entirely one-sided, the referee awarded five rounds to Stribling with only one to Herring. Stribling would later tell the New Yorker magazine that Herring hit him with one of the hardest punches he had ever felt in his career.

Bobby Green dropped a 10-round points decision to Herring in Hot Springs, Arkansas on April 5, 1923. A month later on May 7, Herring lost to Green in an eight-round points decision in Memphis. Green claimed to have broken his hand in the second round according to the Atlanta Constitution.