Former unified junior middleweight champion “Swift” Jarrett Hurd is looking to bounce back strong after suffering his first career defeat back in May, when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Julian Williams.
Hurd (23-1, 16 KOs) will return on January 25th against Francisco “Chia” Santana at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The Showtime televised card will be headlined by Danny “Swift” Garcia facing Ivan “El Terrible” Redkach in a WBC welterweight title eliminator as part of a Premier Boxing Champions event.
Hurd was scheduled to face Williams in a rematch in December - but after parting ways with his trainer, the former champ made a decision to push that contest back.
Hurd rejected talk of moving up in weight to the middleweight limit of 160-pounds.
He intends to remain at 154-pounds to reclaim his belts.
“This is my first time doing interviews since I fought Julian Williams. Last time I was up here I was an undefeated fighter and then I suffered my first loss. We had the rematch set up for this December, but with me going through a switch in trainers and still in the process of searching, I wasn’t in condition for it. It was the hardest thing possible to not take the rematch, much harder than taking it," Hurd said.
“I’ve been training in Colorado with Kay Koroma and getting away from everything. We’re focused strictly on boxing. I cut the hair off too because I was just ready for a change. The work so far is showing me how much work I have left to do and how much room I have to grow. I will stay at 154-pounds and fight for my titles again. I’m not looking past Francisco Santana because he’s a great fighter. I’m working hard to get back to the old me."