By Keith Idec
Jarrett Hurd was surprised Erislandy Lara didn’t move more Saturday night.
Hurd figured he’d have a tougher time tracking down the typically elusive Lara in what developed into a extremely competitive, compelling 154-pound title unification fight in Las Vegas. The smaller, left-handed Lara – known as one boxing’s best technicians – often stood and traded with the bigger, stronger Hurd, who won a 12-round split decision to remain undefeated.
Lara landed his left hand often as Hurd pressured him throughout their bout. Eventually, Hurd wore down Lara enough to catch the former champion with a left hook that dropped Lara with 37 seconds remaining in their back-and-forth fight.
That knockdown emerged as the difference on the scorecards of judges Glenn Feldman and Dave Moretti, both of whom scored the fight 114-113 for Hurd (22-0, 15 KOs). The third judge, Burt Clements, scored it 114-113 for Lara (25-3-2, 14 KOs).
Fans that are typically critical of Lara’s style have credited the Cuban southpaw for making his fight against Hurd more entertaining than most of his previous appearances.
“I was surprised,” Hurd told a group of reporters following the biggest victory of his five-year pro career. “He did stay there toe-to-toe more than we expected. We thought he was gonna run the whole, entire fight, you know, try to move on me. I don’t know if it was because my pressure wore him down or if he felt like he had to kind of stand there to prove something, let me know he’s right there with me. I’m not sure what it was, if he felt like he was behind. But he did stand toe-to-toe and it surprised me.”
Hurd, of Accokeek, Maryland, added Lara’s WBA and IBO super welterweight championships to the IBF junior middleweight championship he won 13½ months ago by stopping Detroit’s Tony Harrison (26-2, 21 KOs) in the ninth round in Birmingham, Alabama.
Houston’s Lara lost two titles and a third debatable decision. Prior to Saturday night, Lara had lost only a maligned majority decision to Paul Williams in July 2011 and a disparaged split decision to Canelo Alvarez in July 2014.
He more than earned Hurd’s respect by standing his ground and exchanging. Hurd figures fatigue played a part in Lara taking that approach.
“I definitely felt him get tired and I knew he was getting tired because he started engaging,” Hurd said. “You know, you never see Lara engage. He usually uses the ring all 12 rounds. But when he started sitting there a little bit, standing toe-to-toe, he either felt he was behind a little bit or his legs were a little worn down.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
