Jarrett Hurd: A Bully Broken?

Jarrett Hurd: A Bully Broken?

I know reading the title of this article may ruffle some feathers. However, that’s not my intention.

“Swift” Jarrett Hurd rode an incredible during his undefeated streak. While climbing the IBF rankings towards a title shot, he defeated the likes of Frank Galaraza and Oscar Molina via stoppage. Standing at 6’1” with a 76.5 inch reach, Hurd’s physical attributes at 154 were indisputably problematic for his opponents. Also, Swift demonstrates a toughness and formidable fighter’s mentality. As fans have witnessed, he’ll take a shot or two to dish out three or four of his own.

Hurd’s big day would arrive on February 25, 2017. He and current WBC junior middleweight champion Tony Harrison would clash for the vacant IBF junior middleweight title. The first half was quite forgettable. Harrison would constantly beat Hurd to the punch and outbox him. However, Hurd would eventually start to land his vicious body shots and defeat Harrison by way of 9th round technical knockout. After all his hard work, he would finally be crowned a champion.

REIGNING AS CHAMPION

In October of that same year, he would face former junior middleweight champion Austin Trout. It seemed as if we were watching a replay of Hurd-Harrison. Trout came out guns blazing, building up an early lead until fatigue started to kick in. Hurd’s pressure, power, and size would carry him to a successful first title defense and a 10th round TKO victory.

Then came, by far, the biggest fight of his career as he would put his IBF title on the line against WBA junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara in a unification bout. He was an underdog heading into this fight. With his lack of fundamentals and foot movement, the technician Lara would simply outclass him, right? Wrong!

After 11 plus exciting rounds in a fight that hinged on the final round, Hurd would score career changing knockdown on Lara. That knockdown proved to be the deciding factor, as he was announced the winner by close split decision.

A HUMBLING EXPERIENCE

Now the only man in the division that can claim unified champion status, a homecoming fight was set. It wasn’t your typical homecoming fight because Julian “J-rock “ Williams wasn’t your typical fighter. The Philadelphia fighter had a single blemish on his record from 2016. He would face a humbling, fifth-round stoppage at the hands of then-IBF champion Jermall Charlo.

That embarrassing performance by the talented Williams caused fans that considered him a future champion to change their tune. So by the time he bounced back and earned his shot at Hurd it was a forgone conclusion that while talented, he simply would face the same fate as Harrison and Trout. However, on May 11, we all would witness arguably the best fight of 2019. Williams, a huge underdog on the road, would come out and set the tone in the opening round by dropping the champion. What ensued was an all out war between the two combatants. Ultimately, an out-boxed, out-fought Hurd would lose a unanimous decision.

THE REMATCH RETREAT

Months later, the rematch was set for December 14 at the Barclays in Brooklyn, New York; or so we thought. Questions started to arise on whether or not the rematch would actually happen. Hurd had yet to enroll in VADA’s random drug testing program, something that is mandatory if you want to challenge Julian Williams, who’s a huge advocate for clean boxing.

Then, without an official explanation, the rematch was off. Naturally, that left fans and pundits to speculate as to what the reason was. Was it that he didn’t want to be randomly drug tested? No, that couldn’t be it, as months prior he partook in being tested. Was it the change in trainer? Possibly. Who would want to go into a huge championship rematch with a new trainer? Very few fighters.

Finally, could it be that Jarrett Hurd’s confidence is simply broken? Bingo! I think that while he’s still capable of regaining his titles, watching the tape back of his fight with Williams he saw the glaring weaknesses that have always been there. His confidence his definitely shaken.

Bringing in a new trainer to fix those issues would take longer than one training camp. Plus, considering the magnitude of the fight, that simply wouldn’t be smart. So, while it was unfortunate that the rematch won’t happen in 2019, it was necessary for Hurd to regroup and regain the confidence lost.

By: Jerrell Fletcher