Jarrett Hurd

Jarrett Hurd (born August 31, 1990) is an American professional boxer.

Hurd made his pro debut in September 2012.

After winning his first 16 fights, Hurd made his TV debut on ShoBox: The New Generation against fellow unbeaten prospect Frank Galarza.

Hurd started off slow, however after round 2, outclassed Galarza, who was unable to cope with Hurd's jab and movement.

After six lopsided rounds, the referee stopped the fight, giving Hurd a TKO win.

Showtime analyst Steve Farhood praised Hurd's performance.

On May 19, 2016, it was announced that Hurd would appear on the Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter undercard at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn New York on June 25 against former Olympian Óscar Molina in a 10-round bout.

The fight was initially on the non-televised undercard, until three days before the fight, it was bumped up to open the broadcast on CBS.

The reason Hurd's fight was bumped up was due to the Jesús Cuellar vs. Abner Mares was cancelled after Mares suffered an eye injury.

Hurd defeated Molina with a round 10 TKO.

Hurd dropped Molina in the first round with an uppercut.

The last round stoppage was considered premature by some media members.

Before round 10, the three judges' had their scorecards reading 87–83, 88–82, 90–80 in favor of Hurd.

Hurd was scheduled to fight Jorge Cota in November 2016, but Cota dropped out after undergoing an emergency appendectomy and was replaced by Jo Jo Dan (35-3, 18 KOs).

The bout took place on November 12 at Temple University's Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.

Hurd won the fight with a round 6 TKO, overwhelming Dan with crisp combinations.

After the fight, Dan said "The weight was a big difference, I took the fight on short notice, but I'm a natural 147-pounder and I don't struggle to make that."

He is a former unified light middleweight world champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF and IBO titles between 2017 and 2019.

On January 24, 2017, it was announced that Hurd would next fight on Deontay Wilder's undercard on February 25 at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, against Tony Harrison (24-1, 20 KOs) on PBC on FOX.

The fight was originally supposed to be an IBF title eliminator for the right to fight Jermall Charlo, but when Charlo vacated the title, the fight was elevated to be for the vacant title.

Hurd defeated Harrison to win the vacant IBF light middleweight title.

Hurd struggled at the start of the fight, being outboxed in the early rounds.

As the fight went on, Harrison seemed to struggle coping with Hurd's power.

Harrison was knocked down by a right hook, he got up but was unable to continue.

After the fight, Hurd said "We wanted to take our time with him because Harrison can box and move, but every time he fights, he wears down toward the end."

Both boxers earned a $125,000 purse.

On May 31, 2017, The Ring TV announced a deal was in place for Hurd to face former world champion Austin Trout for his first defense.

The fight was scheduled for July 29 on the undercard of Mikey Garcia vs. Adrien Broner in New York.

On July 20, Boxing Scene reported the fight was being lined up to take place on September 30, 2017, as part of a light middleweight double header alongside Jermell Charlo's WBC title defence against Erickson Lubin.

Because Hurd was granted an exception from the IBF to make a voluntary defence the winner must fight mandatory challenger Cedric Vitu next.

On August 24, it was announced that the fight would take place as part of a junior middleweight triple-header at the Barclays Center on 14 October 2017.

On fight night, Trout started the fight well, winning the early rounds by jabbing and moving.

However, during the third round, Hurd seemed to hurt Trout with some power shots.

In the middle rounds, Hurd was able to stifle Trout's movement, making the fight more of a brawl, with both fighters trading power shots.

Hurd seemed unfazed by Trout's punches, even though he seemed to tire during round 7.

On the other hand, Trout was visibly backed up several times by Hurd's shots.

In September 2019, Hurd was ranked as the world's second best active light middleweight by The Ring magazine, fourth best by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and sixth by BoxRec.

Hurd was raised in the suburbs of Accokeek, Maryland, and graduated from Gwynn Park High School.

He wasn't a stand-out amateur, only compiling a 32–8 record in 40 amateur fights.

Despite Hurd's lack of accolades as an amateur, Ross Molovinsky, head of Washington metropolitan area promotional outfit Keystone Boxing, tapped him as a potential prospect.