Jarrett Hurd needs to turn back time to get back to Erislandy Lara
Feb 28, 2025 • 1:00 PM ET
NEW YORK – It was a bout not to be forgotten, and for former unified junior-middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd it’s a fight to keep reaching for before the final seconds of his career elapse.
“I know what time it is,” Hurd, 34, conceded ahead of his pre-pay-per-view middleweight bout on Saturday night against Venezuela’s Johan Gonzalez, 35-4 (34 KOs), at Barclays Center, Brooklyn.
Hurd, 25-3-1 (17KOs), is climbing back from a surprising skid of three losses in four fights punctuated by a knockout loss to Mexico’s Jose Armando Resendiz in Ontario, California, in early 2023.
He’s 1-0-1 since, including after his ProBox TV main-event draw against former unified junior-middleweight champion Jeison Rosario in August.
“I feel refreshed, I got myself out of a financial situation I was in, and I feel like I’m a renewed ‘Swift’ coming back to show the world who I am again,” Hurd said. “I feel like the Jarrett I was, I’m back to him.”
While unranked among middleweights, Hurd has the opportunity to rise again given the accomplishments of his past and the fact that two of the three reigning middleweight champions fight under the same Premier Boxing Champions banner as Hurd is doing to support Saturday’s main event of Gervonta “Tank” Davis-Lamont Roach Jnr.
One of those champions is the WBC’s Carlos Adames, who retained his belt on Saturday with a draw against Hamzah Sheeraz in Saudi Arabia.
The other is Cuba’s Erislandy Lara, whom Hurd memorably knocked down in the final minute of the 12th round to become a unified champion and produce the fight of the year. Lara, 41, has the WBA belt.
Saturday’s card is packed with fighters around Hurd’s home near the nation’s capital in Washington. It also features Julian “J-Rock” Williams in the pay-per-view opener against Cuba’s Yoenis Tellez, the WBA’s second-ranked junior-middleweight contender.
Williams defeated Hurd in 2019 by unanimous decision to take his belts.
“We’ve got a lot of fighters from the ‘DMV,’ it’s going to be a packed house, a great atmosphere for me to display what I’ve been working on,” said Hurd, who disputed the notion he’s been reduced to a gatekeeper. “Thet can say what they want… I’m at a point I have a few fights left. You’re only as good as your last fight. Once I get back to winning, they’re going to love me.”
Hurd said winning Saturday night against the 33-year-old Gonzalez and one more impressive triumph will give him that opportunity he craves.
“Hurd-Lara 2… that’s the one we all want,” Hurd said.
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
