By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten IBF Jr. Middleweight Champion Jarrett Hurd of Maryland, USA will be defending his title against IBO and WBA Champ Erislandy Lara of Cuba at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas this Saturday, April 7th. The 12-round bout can be seen live on Showtime in the U.S. While fans in the UK can catch the action on BoxNation. Hurd won the vacant title in February, 2017 when he stopped Tony Harrison in the ninth round and defended it against Austin Trout in his last outing in October when Trout couldn’t come out for the 11th round. Lara’s last bout was in October when he beat Terrell Gausha by unanimous decision.
The 27-year-old Hurd enters the bout with a perfect record of 21-0 with 15 Kos, but he’ll be stepping up in class again by meeting Lara. Hurd turned pro back in 2012 and has 98 rounds of experience since then. He’s a former three-time Golden Gloves winner in Washington D.C. He’s managed to beat opponents such as Harrison, Trout, Ionut Dan Ion, Oscar Molina, Frank Galarza and Eric Mitchell, so he’s definitely facing his stiffest test as a pro in Lara. What Hurd has going for him right now though is better-than-average power with a knockout ratio of 71 per cent. He stands 6-feet-1-inch tall with a reach of 76.5 inches.
The 34-year-old Lara is a southpaw who now fights out of Houston, Texas. He climbs into the ring at 25-2-2 with 14 Kos under his belt. He’s elusive with a lot of boxing skills, but doesn’t have too much in the way of one-punch power as his knockout ratio currently stands at 48 per cent. He’s just 5-feet-9-inches tall and has a 74-inch wingspan so will give up three inches in height and 2.5 inches in reach too Hurd. Lara won the vacant IBO title by beating Delvin Rodriguez by unanimous decision in June of 2015. He won the interim WBA title in June, 2013 by stopping Alfredo Angulo in the 10th round after being dropped in the fourth and ninth..
As well as defending his titles against Yuri Foreman, Vanes Martirosyan, and Rodriguez, Lara also defended them against Ishe Smith by decision in December of 2012 and Jan Zaveck by third-round knockout in November of 2015. Lara’s two career defeats as a pro have been at the hands of Paul Williams by controversial majority decision in 2011 and a controversial split decision to Saul Alvarez in July of 2014. He also fought to a nine-round technical decision draw with Maritosyan in 2012 and a 10-round majority draw with Carlos Molina a year earlier.
Lara is an excellent technical boxer and his power may be a bit underrated. He’s often not the most exciting boxer around though and has boxed 187 rounds since turning pro in 2008. He also enjoyed an excellent amateur career in which he won numerous titles, including three straight national crowns in Cuba as a welterweight. He has a bit of an awkward style, but has become more fan friendly lately as he has begun to let his hands go and has starting throwing more power shots. He sometimes appears to be too good to be exciting as he can be dominant and hard to hit and that can lead to boring fights.
Prediction…
Lara has plenty more experience against top-level opponents and that will help him. He also has a solid chin and the better boxing skills. Hurd is more fan friendly and also has a strong chin, but he doesn’t have the skills to outbox Lara, so I’ll be looking for Lara to leave the ring with all the title belts.
