IBF junior middleweight champion "Swift" Jarrett Hurd iwill be gunning for a knockout victory when he collides with WBA, IBO junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara in a highly-anticipated title unification on Saturday, April 7 from The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Lara will return for the first time since his lopsided twelve round decision win over over undefeated Olympian Terrell Gausha in October at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Hurd was in action on the same card and pulled off his biggest win when he became the first man to stop former champion Austin Trout when Trout's corner stopped the fight in the 10th round.
The 34-year-old Lara (25-2-2, 14 KOs), who lives and trains in Houston, Texas, is the longest reigning champion in the weight class.
Most expects view the contest as Lara's most dangerous fight since he came off the floor to stop Alfredo Angulo in 2013. Since the win over Angulo, Lara has successfully defended his titles seven times.
While many fighters have been avoiding a potential clash with Lara, the unbeaten Hurd, 27 years-old, embraced that contest are made it his mission to secure the showdown.
Hurd is not planning for a twelve round decision win, he wants to knock Lara out inside the distance.
"I plan on being the aggressor for the entire fight, so I've been doing some exercises and working on techniques to improve my foot work so that I can stay on top of Erislandy Lara,'' said Hurd.
"We are not trying to go to the scorecards, so hopefully, I can be the first man to stop him, which I hope to do in the later rounds.
"I called him out, and now, it has come to pass that I get to become a unified champion against the man everyone considers to be the best and most feared in the division, and that's Erislandy Lara."
