FAIRFAX, Va. -- Championship boxing will be back on Fox on May 11 with two junior middleweight titles on the line. Making the fourth defense of his IBF title and the second defense of his WBA title will be the undefeated Jarrett Hurd. Challenging Hurd for those titles will be the one-loss Julian Williams who will be looking to win his first ever world title.
Hurd (23-0, 16 KOs) is a big man. He stands at 6-feet, 1-inches tall and has a reach or nearly 77-inches and yet he somehow still makes the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds. Pretty much everything Hurd throws is heavy. He has a thudding jab from the outside that he likes to follow with a bruising right hand. Where's he's at his best though is on the inside. When Hurd can sit in the pocket he unloads powerful left hooks and does a tremendous job of killing his opponent's body. As if his left hook and right hand weren't worrisome enough, his opponents also have to watch out for a mean uppercut. Defensively Hurd is certainly there to be hit. He likes to come straight forward and doesn't seem to worry about protecting his chin much and he hasn't really had to since his chin is so good. Also, his offense really is his defense because he rarely takes a step back or lets his opponent mount much of an attack.
Hurd was brought along at a deliberate pace and built intelligently. His first step up fight came when he was 16-0 and three years into his professional career. In that fight he took on the unbeaten Frank Galarza and stopped him in the sixth round. That win gave Hurd's career a boost and sent him on a tough journey that saw him beat Oscar Molina, Jo Jo Dan, Tony Harrison, Austin Trout, and Erislandy Lara. That fight with Lara would have ended in a majority draw had Hurd not dropped him in the 12th round to get the split decision win. In his last fight he took on the over-matched Jason Welborn and knocked him out in the fourth round. Now Hurd will set his sights on another title defense, this time against Williams.
What should make this fight so exciting is that both Williams (26-1-1, 16 KOs) and Hurd fight so well on the inside. Williams likes to jab his way on but he will also use that jab from the outside to measure the distance for his right hand. On the outside that right hand is a good weapon but Williams is at his best when he's in the pocket. From the inside Williams has a nasty left hook that he's very skilled with. Along with the left hook his right hand can also do damage on the inside and he throws it with bad intentions. As good as Williams is with those two punches on the inside he's also just as good at splitting the guard with hard uppercuts. Defensively he isn't quite as sharp. His footwork leaves a lot to be desired and his chin didn't look very good when he was getting dropped three times and stopped by Jermall Charlo. Against a puncher like Hurd, Williams will need to avoid getting drawn into a brawl.
Hurd's career was built beautifully. After his first step-up fight his promoter kept raising the bar and outside of his last fight against Welborn he always took on a tough test follow that step up fight. The same can't be said for Williams. Williams started his career in 2010 and his first true test came against an old Joachim Alcine in 2013. His next fight came against a good and then unbeaten opponent in Hugo Centeno Jr. but an accidental headbutt meant that fight ended in a no contest. Had that fight gone the distance and had Williams won it could have been a nice springboard. After the Centeno fight he did take on some name veterans like Orlando Lora and Freddy Hernandez but Williams didn't really have another tough test until 2016 when he took on Charlo. That fight was a disaster for Williams but he has turned things around since, going 4-0 with two knockouts including a unanimous decision over an old Ishe Smith. Now Williams will step back up to challenge Hurd for his IBF and WBA titles.
Like most Hurd fights, this one should be fun to watch. Both Hurd and Williams do their best work on the inside and usually eat plenty of leather so the action should be constant. How this fight plays out really depends on Williams. He is the better boxer from the outside and doesn't have as much power as Hurd so look for him to try and control the distance and pace with his jab and right hand, at least early. How long Williams can pull that off remains to be seen and at some point he will probably find himself in the pocket trading punches with Hurd. Hurd loves to walk guys down and always seems to be able to get inside and do damage. Look for Hurd to focus on the body early in an attempt to slow Williams down and make him fight inside. If Hurd can get in the pocket and stay there he should be able to do plenty of damage.
PREDICTION: Julian Williams is a good fighter who definitely has a chance in this fight. He has a tendency to get involved in brawls though and brawls are Jarrett Hurd's specialty. Williams is going to find some success early but eventually Hurd is going to take over and not look back. Hurd is going to control the second half of this fight and stop Williams in the 10th round.
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| Hurd with his title belts following his last fight |
Hurd was brought along at a deliberate pace and built intelligently. His first step up fight came when he was 16-0 and three years into his professional career. In that fight he took on the unbeaten Frank Galarza and stopped him in the sixth round. That win gave Hurd's career a boost and sent him on a tough journey that saw him beat Oscar Molina, Jo Jo Dan, Tony Harrison, Austin Trout, and Erislandy Lara. That fight with Lara would have ended in a majority draw had Hurd not dropped him in the 12th round to get the split decision win. In his last fight he took on the over-matched Jason Welborn and knocked him out in the fourth round. Now Hurd will set his sights on another title defense, this time against Williams.
What should make this fight so exciting is that both Williams (26-1-1, 16 KOs) and Hurd fight so well on the inside. Williams likes to jab his way on but he will also use that jab from the outside to measure the distance for his right hand. On the outside that right hand is a good weapon but Williams is at his best when he's in the pocket. From the inside Williams has a nasty left hook that he's very skilled with. Along with the left hook his right hand can also do damage on the inside and he throws it with bad intentions. As good as Williams is with those two punches on the inside he's also just as good at splitting the guard with hard uppercuts. Defensively he isn't quite as sharp. His footwork leaves a lot to be desired and his chin didn't look very good when he was getting dropped three times and stopped by Jermall Charlo. Against a puncher like Hurd, Williams will need to avoid getting drawn into a brawl.
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| Williams sticking Ishe Smith with a shot to the body |
Like most Hurd fights, this one should be fun to watch. Both Hurd and Williams do their best work on the inside and usually eat plenty of leather so the action should be constant. How this fight plays out really depends on Williams. He is the better boxer from the outside and doesn't have as much power as Hurd so look for him to try and control the distance and pace with his jab and right hand, at least early. How long Williams can pull that off remains to be seen and at some point he will probably find himself in the pocket trading punches with Hurd. Hurd loves to walk guys down and always seems to be able to get inside and do damage. Look for Hurd to focus on the body early in an attempt to slow Williams down and make him fight inside. If Hurd can get in the pocket and stay there he should be able to do plenty of damage.
PREDICTION: Julian Williams is a good fighter who definitely has a chance in this fight. He has a tendency to get involved in brawls though and brawls are Jarrett Hurd's specialty. Williams is going to find some success early but eventually Hurd is going to take over and not look back. Hurd is going to control the second half of this fight and stop Williams in the 10th round.
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