By Thomas Gerbasi
If it seems like every other hot prospect these days hails from the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area, get ready for another one, as middleweight Jarrett Hurd makes his Showtime debut this Saturday in Las Vegas against fellow unbeaten Frank Galarza.
The ShoBox main event is a reminder of what the series was created for, to match top up and comers against each other. It’s a big deal for the careers of both fighters, but as Hurd prepares for fight night, he’s looking at it as just the next bout in a career that has saw him win all 16 of his pro matches, 10 by knockout.
“I’m used to fighting in main events,” he said. “This is probably my sixth or seventh main event. But not on Showtime. But even if it’s on Showtime, no matter what, once I’m in that squared circle, it’s all the same. I don’t feel any pressure; I feel like I’m going to be ready, Showtime or not.”
That’s that Maryland upbringing, and where Hurd comes from, the sparring is usually tougher than the fights, and the fights, well, they’re not walkovers either. In other words, the area has become hotter than it’s ever been in terms of producing top-notch talent.
“The DMV has a lot of fighters, and I feel like some of the top fighters out of a lot of the areas,” Hurd said. “So it was always worth it to get sparring in the area. I’ve been working with those guys since the amateurs and going into the pros, some of the guys I’ve fought have been tough veterans, but after working with the guys in the area, I never really looked at them as tough as the guys I’ve been working with back in Maryland.”
It’s only recently that Hurd has been considered one of those “guys” from the area that has world-class potential, but not being one of the most publicized fighters never bothered the 25-year-old, as he knew his day would come.
“Back in the amateurs, I probably wasn’t one of the guys you would have picked to be one of the big names coming out of DMV, but right now, I’m doing good,” he said. “I’m always the underdog, but so far I’ve done it every time.”
It almost never happened for Accokeek’s Hurd, who walked away from the game in 2009, got a job, and was content with that decision. Then after his trainer, Thomas Browner, passed away, everything changed.
“The period when I didn’t know whether I wanted to do it or not was in 2009, right after I won the 2008 Nationals,” Hurd said. “I fought in the Golden Gloves again in 2009 and I lost. After that I took a break. I went and got a job at Safeway and one day I got a phone call from my brother telling me that my trainer passed away. I immediately dropped tears, right there on the job, and I attended his funeral and I saw one of the fighters that he trained who is my trainer now, Ernesto Rodriguez. He asked me if I wanted to come back.”
Hurd returned to the gym, and after a couple more amateur tournaments, he turned pro in 2012. It’s been a spotless journey so far, with the only hiccups a split decision win over Chris Chatman and a majority nod over Emmanuel Sanchez.
“I had two fights against southpaws and they were my only wins without a knockout or unanimous decision,” he said of the Chatman and Sanchez bouts. “They weren’t such tough tests. I wasn’t feeling like ‘oh, this is gonna be a long night.’ They were just awkward guys and it was hard to get off. So it wasn’t like they were getting off on me and I wasn’t getting off on them, they were just slow fights. So I don’t think I’ve been tested in a way people use the term ‘tested.’ But I feel like anyone has any questions or wonders if I’ve been put to the test after this fight, all the questions will be answered.”
It’s a good attitude to have, especially since the hard-hitting Galarza will likely be Hurd’s toughest test to date. But as a true fighter, that’s what Hurd is looking for.
“Galarza’s a good fighter, I take nothing away from him, but the style that he has is suitable for me,” he said. “I know it’s going to be a real fan-friendly fight. Galarza said he’s going to bring the fight to me, but he’s known to move around sometimes if necessary, so we’ll see. Whatever he decides, we’re going to have to adjust to it and capitalize on it.”
DMV style.
“We didn’t take any fights for granted, but we knew we could win them,” Hurd says of his dues paying. “We didn’t want to take the spoon-fed road. We wanted to get the experience and know what it was like to go tough rounds and so far we did everything we needed to do.”
And just think, he almost left it all behind.
“Eventually I do think I would have come back,” he said. “I’m not sure if it would have been so soon, but I think I would have because I wouldn’t have been happy without knowing what I could have done in boxing. That would have been on my mind a lot.”
