LOS ANGELES -- The co-feature for the Showtime pay-per-view card on Dec. 1 headlined by a heavyweight bout between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury will be the only other title fight on the card. IBF and WBA junior middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd (22-2, 15 KOs) will put his titles on the line against Jason Welborn (24-6, 7 KOs) in what looks to be, at least on paper, a massive mismatch.
Hurd is a massive junior welterweight who loves to apply pressure and fight on the inside. Know as "Swift," Hurd usually outsizes any opponent he faces. He fights out of the orthodox stance and while he has good power it isn't of the one punch knockout variety. Instead he relies on thudding power and a brutal body attack to wear opponents down. Hurd is the type of fighter who loves to come forward and he doesn't mind eating a few punches as long as he gets to launch his own attack. He is very accurate with his punches on the inside and keeps them short. Both his left hook and right hand can do damage and he does a really nice job of using the tools he has properly.
In April of 2018 Hurd scored the biggest win of his career, a split decision over Erislandy Lara. Lara is very slick but Hurd did a nice job of keeping him where he wanted and slowing him down with body shots. Among his other victims are names like Austin Trout and Tony Harrison. Usually when Hurd is in the ring the action is fairly even. Often his fights look like they could go either way before he stops his opponent with an accumulation of punches. However, if the fight looks close with Welborn that would be a very bad thing for the champion because on paper Welborn is severely outclassed.
Welborn is an orthodox fighter with almost no power to speak of. He isn't a slick boxer, the type that could give Hurd some problems. Instead he is a fighter who likes to come forward and mix things up, just like Hurd does. Welborn's footwork isn't very good and defensively he usually just puts on the earmuffs and waits for his opponent to stop punching. He likes to use his jab as a measuring stick for a pretty good right hand and he actually has a solid left hook as well. The problem is that he doesn't carry much pop on those punches and Hurd has a very good chin.
At the very least Welborn should be in great shape for this fight. He's already fought twice in 2018, in May and September, going 2-0 with both fights coming against Tommy Langford. He's also been in the ring with the likes of Liam Smith and Matthew Macklin and he's fought as high as middleweight. However, he lost to both Smith and Macklin and as recently as 2016 Welborn lost to a fighter with a record of 18-96-8 and that fighter's record is now an even worse 26-146-10. While it has been four years since Welborn was last stopped, he hasn't actually faced top opposition and he has been stopped three times in his career.
Evenly matched bouts are better for the sport of boxing, especially in title fights. Mismatches have started to run rampant in boxing and really turn fans off. Simply put, Hurd fighting Welborn is a serious mismatch. Not only is Hurd bigger and stronger but Welborn's style is tailor made for him. Both fighters like to come forward and mix things up and while Welborn's best shot at winning would be to stick and move, he doesn't really have the skills to do that. Look for Hurd to be even more aggressive than usual since he has a stationary target in front of him without enough power to dissuade him from coming forward.
PREDICTION: Jason Welborn doesn't have the skills to frustrate Jarrett Hurd and he doesn't take punches to the body well. This fight will be all Hurd and he'll have an easy day at the office on his way to a fifth round knockout.
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| Hurd digging a left hook to the body of Erislandy Lara |
In April of 2018 Hurd scored the biggest win of his career, a split decision over Erislandy Lara. Lara is very slick but Hurd did a nice job of keeping him where he wanted and slowing him down with body shots. Among his other victims are names like Austin Trout and Tony Harrison. Usually when Hurd is in the ring the action is fairly even. Often his fights look like they could go either way before he stops his opponent with an accumulation of punches. However, if the fight looks close with Welborn that would be a very bad thing for the champion because on paper Welborn is severely outclassed.
Welborn is an orthodox fighter with almost no power to speak of. He isn't a slick boxer, the type that could give Hurd some problems. Instead he is a fighter who likes to come forward and mix things up, just like Hurd does. Welborn's footwork isn't very good and defensively he usually just puts on the earmuffs and waits for his opponent to stop punching. He likes to use his jab as a measuring stick for a pretty good right hand and he actually has a solid left hook as well. The problem is that he doesn't carry much pop on those punches and Hurd has a very good chin.
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| Welborn catching his opponent with a right hand |
Evenly matched bouts are better for the sport of boxing, especially in title fights. Mismatches have started to run rampant in boxing and really turn fans off. Simply put, Hurd fighting Welborn is a serious mismatch. Not only is Hurd bigger and stronger but Welborn's style is tailor made for him. Both fighters like to come forward and mix things up and while Welborn's best shot at winning would be to stick and move, he doesn't really have the skills to do that. Look for Hurd to be even more aggressive than usual since he has a stationary target in front of him without enough power to dissuade him from coming forward.
PREDICTION: Jason Welborn doesn't have the skills to frustrate Jarrett Hurd and he doesn't take punches to the body well. This fight will be all Hurd and he'll have an easy day at the office on his way to a fifth round knockout.
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