By Keith Idec
Jarrett Hurd didn’t have nearly as much difficulty cutting weight for his fight Saturday night as he did for his previous bout.
The 6-feet-1 Hurd, the biggest champion in the 154-pound division, revealed Thursday night that he had to cut 36 pounds during fight week six months ago. Hurd still weighed in at 152 pounds, two below his division’s limit, for a fourth-round knockout of England’s Jason Welborn on December 2 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Though he had an easier time making weight for his upcoming fight against Julian Williams, Hurd came in heavier at their weigh-in Friday afternoon than for the Welborn bout. The 28-year-old Hurd officially weighed 153¾ pounds for their 12-round fight for Hurd’s IBF, IBO and WBA 154-pound championships.
The 5-feet-10 Williams initially stepped on the Virginia Boxing & Wrestling Commission’s scale slightly overweight, at 154¼ pounds. The Philadelphia native stripped naked and promptly came in at 153¾ pounds.
Hurd (23-0, 16 KOs), of Accokeek, Maryland, is about a 6-1 favorite against Williams (26-1-1, 16 KOs, 1 NC) ahead of a fight FOX will televise as the main event from EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia.
FOX’s three-bout broadcast, scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. PT, also will include two 10-round fights. All four fighters made weight for those contests Friday as well.
San Antonio’s Mario Barrios (23-0, 15 KOs) officially weighed in at a contracted catch weight of 143 pounds for his fight against Argentina’s Juan Jose Velasco (20-1, 12 KOs). Velasco also weighed exactly 143 pounds.
Earlier Friday, Russia’s Matt Korobov (28-2, 14 KOs) came in at 160¾ pounds for his middleweight match with Immanuwel Aleem (18-1-1, 11 KOs). Aleem, of Richmond, Virginia, weighed in at 159¾ pounds.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.