Seemingly no fighter could stand toe to toe with Jarrett Hurd over the course of a 12-round fight. In order to win his IBF junior middleweight crown in 2017, the Maryland native stopped Tony Harrison dead in his tracks. Just one year later, Hurd parlayed his title win, along with a defense of his trinket against Austin Trout, into a unified reign by eking out a split decision victory against Erislandy Lara.
Effectively, the 154-pound division had become Hurd’s oyster. With a mouthwatering showdown against Jermell Charlo waiting in the wings, Hurd (24-2, 16 KOs) attempted to thrill his hometown fans as he took on Julian Williams. Ultimately, Hurd’s adoring supporters stood motionless as their hometown hero was floored and out-hustled before losing his titles via unanimous decision.
After competing once more at the 154-pound weight limit, Hurd attempted to reinvent himself...this time as a full-fledged middleweight. Thus far, the results have been lackluster as Hurd would go on to lose a close split decision to fringe contender Luis Arias.
Since then, a reset of sorts was needed. Having taken the time to recharge his batteries, Hurd is on the comeback trail. Initially, the 32-year-old was set to end his one and a year layoff on January 7th. But, having suffered an eye injury during training camp, Hurd needed time to fully heal.
The former champ will return on March 4th, as part of a Showtime televised tripleheader from Toyota Arena in Ontario, Calif. Hurd will collide with dangerous foe Armando Resendiz in a middleweight bout.
While painful to admit, Hurd acknowledges that the Jermell Charlo ship has officially set sail. Still, even with their rivalry seemingly gone by the wayside, Hurd refuses to be myopic over the entire ordeal. With Jermell’s brother, Jermall Charlo, holding firm to the WBC middleweight title, Hurd reveals that a consolation prize against the bigger Charlo would placate his desires.
“For sure,” said Hurd when asked if he would be interested in facing Jermall Charlo on the PBC Podcast. “If I can’t get the little one, let me get the big one. Let me get the big one.”
Normally loquacious, Jermall has been out of the ring since defending his crown against Juan Macias Montiel on June 19th, 2021. With a nagging back injury, coupled with personal issues, Jermall remains sequestered on the sidelines.
Luckily for Hurd, if Jermall is unavailable, he acknowledges that there’s no shortage of middleweight belt holders to choose from. In reality, Hurd knows good and well that he has quite a bit of work to do before he becomes a legitimate threat to the rest of the middleweight division’s elite. But, once he fully acclimates himself to life against bigger men, Hurd is anxious to finish what he ultimately started at 154 pounds.
“I want big Charlo, I want Janibek, and GGG if you still around, let me get GGG. The goal is still the same, unify, unification, undisputed.”
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