Jarrett Hurd weathered Erislandy Lara’s early strafing to score a pivotal 12th round knock down to unify 154-pound titles with a split-decision victory.
James DeGale Earns Back IBF Super Middleweight World Championship With Unanimous Decision In Rematch With Caleb Truax
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Julian Williams Wins IBF 154-Pound Eliminator With Decision Over Nathaniel Gallimore In SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING Opener
LAS VEGAS (April 7, 2018) – Reigning IBF Super Welterweight champion Jarrett Hurd’s belief in himself never wavered, from the moment he called out WBA champion Erislandy Lara during his in-ring interview following his first title defense victory over Austin Trout back in October. Saturday night, April 7, in front of a sold out crowd of 2,579 fans at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Hurd’s resolve never wavered.
Hurd (22-0, 15 KOs) never relented as Lara (25-3-2, 14 KOs) surprisingly began standing his ground early in round one, signaling that he had no intention of being hard to find versus the forward-marching 27-year old from Accokeek, Maryland.
Lara’s decision to only move when necessary early on, as many questioned his motive for doing so, added a completely unexpected story line to the unification bout – only the division’s seventh such fight in its history. However, Lara’s punching was so effective for the first few rounds that one had to think the division’s longest reigning champion planned to capitalize on Hurd’s major weakness Trout successfully exploited for several rounds in his fight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
With Lara opting to trade more than usual, Hurd started landing easier, connecting well enough to likely win a couple of rounds over the fight’s first half. The momentum fully switched over to Hurd in the eighth round, as his pressure attack started to outpace Lara’s sniping.
Hurd’s use of his jab over the second half of the fight worked in his favor, as he spent some quality minutes scoring from mid-range where he was hit and not be hit as much. Alternately, when Hurd was outside working a shorter jab than usual, while staying committed to body work; when he did get inside he kept jarring Lara with compact uppercuts. Not every shot made it through cleanly, but they visibly moved Lara’s head and guard. Going into the key rounds Lara’s right eye began to swell.
Both men fought fiercely through the 11th round, and perhaps Hurd felt Lara nosed him in that stanza, as he spiritedly got out to a brisk pace to open the 12th. Lara couldn’t match the younger fighter’s aggression, and as the damage to his eye began to worsen the veteran began to look desperate pawing at times to remove the blood from his vision.
Unable to find many lapses in action, and with Hurd working exclusively inside, the Maryland native finally connected with a left hook that dropped the long-reigning champion. Lara, sitting on one knee, regrouped as referee Kenny Bayless conducted his 10-count. Lara continued to work at the blood impairing his vision, and with less than 30 seconds to go before the final bell, the veteran southpaw did what it took to cross the finish line.
The confines of Hard Rock’s The Joint were rife with suspense as observers awaited to hear whether Lara did enough over the course of the first 11 rounds to slip through and secure his seventh title defense. Shockingly, Jimmy Lennon, Jr delivered the answer of no, as the scorecards favored the younger Hurd via split-decision – 113-114, 114-113 and 114-113.
“Besides the last round, I thought I was winning this fight easily,” Lara said. “That’s not to decide the fight. I was winning the fight. One punch in a fight doesn’t determine the fight.
“It was a great fight for the fans. I stood there, fought and it was fun. I thought I clearly won the fight. Once again a decision goes against me, but hey we just have to do the rematch.”
Lara’s performance – one where he unusually spent a great deal of time exchanging on the inside – probably warrants a rematch. Earlier in the evening former world title challenger Julian Williams defeated Nathaniel Gallimore to become the IBF mandatory opponent to Hurd. And, Showtime’s past couple of years showcasing the deep Super Welterweight division now creates a situation where the public is clamoring for a Hurd fight versus WBC champion Jermell Charlo.
James DeGale recaptured his IBF Super Middleweight championship Caleb Truax lifted off of him in a stunning upset back in December.
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The bout’s judges scored the 12-round championship fight 117-110 and 114-113 twice. Following some pushing warnings, DeGale was deducted a point in the 10th for shoving Truax away from him with his shoulder and partially using his elbow. He responded by sweeping the championship rounds on all three judges’ scorecards to win the decision.
DeGale (24-2-1, 14 KOs) opened this rematch moving pretty well, and he landed consistently as Truax (29-4-2, 18 KOs) seemed to struggle with looking sharp technically. He got on track with his pressure in round two, but still got caught with the better shots. The Minnesota native connected with his best right hand in round three before a clash of heads resulted in serious cut at the corner of DeGale’s right eye. The injury marred the rest of the fight.
DeGale struggled to see the rest of the fight, he spent the balance of the night continuously pawing at his eye, and fought each round with nearly half of his face covered in blood. Truax sustained cuts over both of his eyes in the seventh and eighth rounds.
DeGale was ecstatic about regaining his title he held for over two years, and while he credited Truax for being a tough competitor, other comments of his fell short creating any optimisim that a trilogy was forthcoming.
“I couldn’t see from my right eye, DeGale said. “I like Robert Byrd (referee), but today he was a bit wrong. I couldn’t see. But I’m just glad I got through it. I showed some heart. In my last fight, I was like a weak little kid.”
Truax was aware that his outing was lackluster. Perhaps a couple of early head butts fed into his flatness, or maybe pressure mounted with having to live up to his upset performance, and he left some of his fight in a ratcheted up training camp.
“I thought I did enough to win the fight, but I also thought I was pretty flat and didn’t get my shots off like I wanted,” Truax said. “I was just a little bit flat. I felt really good coming in but I just couldn’t get my shots off like the last fight. He never hurt me, but it is what it is.
“I gave him a rematch straight away so why not do it again.”
The opener of the Showtime Championship Boxing triple-header included some interesting story lines. Philadelphia’s Julian “J Rock” Williams entered the fight with his career on the line; an ugly loss to the heavy-handed Nathaniel Gallimore could have left him with sparse options at Super Welterweight. Beyond his power, several questions remained about Gallimore total make-up as a fighter.
The perception, for some, of Williams’ back being against the wall propelled the crafty Philly native to a 116-112, 117-110, 114-114 majority decision in an entertaining IBF Junior Middleweight World Title eliminator.
Williams (25-1-1, 15 KOs) set the tone of the immediately, peppering Gallimore with a sharp left jab through the opening rounds. In conjunction with the jab, Williams movement and feinting kept Gallimore at a comfortable range.
With his jab established Williams mixed in some excellent body work in round three, while giving Gallimore few openings as operated from behind a tight guard. Gallimore (20-2-1, 17 KOs) quit looking for the perfect openings and engaged in a more physical attack in the fourth. He briefly wobbled Williams during the last 20 seconds of his best round to that point.
As Gallimore’s punches began to land the trash talk commenced, but Williams quelled Gallimore’s momentum, opening the fifth round back behind his jab.
Gallimore’s next biggest rally came in the early part of round seven, but Williams surprisingly moved the fight inside for the balance of the fight’s second half. Both men fought through moments of fatigue, but Williams masterfully disrupted any Gallimore rhythm by controlling the clinches in his favor. Gallimore was unable to work freely or as he wanted to, so he gradually fell behind in the scoring.
Trainer John Pullman explained to Gallimore why he was being smothered and seemingly growing frustrated in the corner before round ten. He calmly told his fighter, “…you’re accepting the clinch.”
Gallimore rallied again to start the eleventh round, but Williams stormed back over the rounds final half, sparked by an explosive left hook that snapped Gallimore’s head. Somehow Gallimore survived the subsequent array of big combinations by Williams. The round could have justifiably been scored 10-8, and its effects lasted well into middle of the twelfth round where Gallimore never mustered enough to make a final run at stopping Williams.
Williams connected on 50 percent of his power shots, and his infighting tactics proved to be too savvy for Gallimore to overcome with sporadic outbursts and virtually no use of a jab. Williams dispelled the notion that his chin is a liability, and his performance was solid enough to believe he can cause Hurd some problems.
After the fight Williams and his team celebrated their big win and taunted Gallimore in the ring, chiding him to be more humble.
“He is a strong fighter, but I knew he was going to do what he did. Start strong early, but I knew he wasn’t strong after six rounds.
“The hits to the body was all in the game plan. You have to go to the body in a 12 round fight.”
Gallimore came up short in a physically taxing 12-round world-class fight, losing to a more seasoned fighter in Williams. Making it to a majority decision, and banging up Williams pretty good; Gallimore’s likely to get a second crack in a meaningful match-up.
“I didn’t really think I won the fight,” Gallimore admitted. “I just let too many early rounds go. I just gave him too many rounds. I had him hurt a couple of times, but he was tough. I should have done more combinations. I will look at the fight and review it, and will make adjustments.”
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