Hurd: I Don't Want 'Fights Of The Year;' I Want One-Sided Fights

[Ruthless-RKO]

Jarrett Hurd has been involved in at least “Fight of the Year” candidates in each of the past two years.

His split-decision defeat of Erislandy Lara in April 2018 won that award last year from the Boxing Writers Association of America. He also engaged in a top candidate for the award last May 11, when Julian Williams dropped Hurd and upset him to take the IBF, IBO and WBA 154-pound titles from him in Fairfax, Virginia.

As gratifying as that recognition might’ve been, Hurd hopes he’s not involved in another of those types of fights for the rest of his career. Hurd focused on his defense and footwork during his recently completed training camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and intends to win his upcoming bouts based on skill, not the sheer size that has helped the 6-feet-1 former champion overpower opponents in recent years.

The 29-year-old Hurd expects to display those skills Saturday night, when he’ll battle Francisco Santana at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It’ll mark Hurd’s first fight since Williams beat him eight months ago.

“If you hit your opponent and you’re not getting hit, how could you lose a fight?,” Hurd told Boxing Scene. “Every year I’m in a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate. And if you think about it, in order to be in a ‘Fight of the Year,’ the fight has to be back and forth. So, I was patting myself on the back at that time. But then I realized, ‘Do I actually wanna be in ‘Fights of the Year?’ That’s making fights close and back and forth. I want these fights to be one-sided and I want them to be all for Jarrett Hurd in there. So, it was good having those ‘Fights of the Year’ and ‘Fight of the Year’ candidates. It’s great to be exciting, but I want the fights to be one-sided.”

His new trainer, Kay Koroma, has helped Hurd alter his approach in their first training camp together. Hurd hired Koroma after parting ways with longtime trainer Ernesto Rodriguez.

“The second half of my career, I don’t wanna focus on my size and using my size advantage,” Hurd said. “That was my thing in my previous wins against other opponents at 154. I know I’m gonna move up to 160 soon, so we’re now focusing on using my skills to my advantage. We’re focused on trying to get the wins behind a nice skill set.

“I just wanna be a more disciplined fighter, disciplined with my footwork. Instead of just walking in, walking in behind my jab and just being disciplined on my defense – just the things that got me to where I am today, and not just my relying on my conditioning and going hard to get me the wins.”

Hurd (23-1, 16 KOs), of Accokeek, Maryland, is heavily favored – 50-1, according to most Internet sports books – to beat Santana (25-7-1, 12 KOs), of Santa Barbara, California, in a 10-round junior middleweight match that’ll be part of Showtime’s tripleheader (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT). In the main event, Philadelphia’s Danny Garcia (35-2, 21 KOs) and Ukraine’s Ivan Redkach (23-4-1, 18 KOs) are set to meet in a 12-round welterweight bout.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I kinda agree with him. What's the difference between dominating a 'good opponent' and having a slug-fest with a 'good opponent'..

Slug fests shorten careers.

A dominant fight can still be a fight of the year right??

Thoughts?

[margaret thatcher]

What were one-sided, dominant fight of the years?

[skanksta]

What were one-sided, dominant fight of the years?

Calzaghe vs Lacy

[Enlightened-One]

What were one-sided, dominant fight of the years?

Calzaghe vs Lacy

Calzaghe’s delivered a masterclass against Lacy that was truly impressive, but the one-sided nature of the bout (especially when you know the outcome) is terribly boring to watch.

It was a good fight to watch live, due to the anticipation of seeing what would happen if Lacy landed one of his bombs, but this moment never came, so the bout carries absolutely no replay value.

It wasn't "fight of the year" material.

[Enlightened-One]

One-sided fights are great for career longevity and preservation of one’s health.

However, there’s a quote that I’ve read from one of my favourite boxing scribes, which reads…

“Absolute domination is absolute domination, and when a man can separate himself from a competitor by being that good, it simply makes for an uneventful evening that just feels bad!”

And this is perhaps one of the main reasons why many people disliked guys like Andre Ward, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Wladimir Klitschko.

Their opponents were partially responsible for the tedium we experienced watching their bouts though, due to their inability to make fights competitive.

Jarrett Hurd better have one flamboyant and charismatic out-of-ring persona, because one of the obvious consequences of successfully delivering dominant one-sided performances, that requires implementing an elusive fighting style, is boring the audience to the point it adversely affects his paydays.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

I never found ward to be totally dominant like floyd or klitschko... he lost rounds but hes just a winner

Hurd is who he is. Hes had no defense and is a pressure fighter.

[gilgamesh]

What were one-sided, dominant fight of the years?

Calzaghe vs Lacy

That definitely wasn't fight of the year in 2006.

[gilgamesh]

Given Hurd's style I can't imagine he'll have too many one sided victories over World Class competition. He'll have wins, but he'll usually find it difficult.

Dominant wins are only gonna come against overmatched opponents. Unless he dramatically changes his style.

[gilgamesh]

Calzaghe vs Lacy

Calzaghe’s delivered a masterclass against Lacy that was truly impressive, but the one-sided nature of the bout (especially when you know the outcome) is terribly boring to watch.

It was a good fight to watch live, due to the anticipation of seeing what would happen if Lacy landed one of his bombs, but this moment never came, so the bout carries absolutely no replay value.

It wasn't "fight of the year" material.

Yeah I don't think I've ever watched Calzaghe vs Lacy again since it was Live. I remember vividly what I saw, but like you say there was really no reason to ever watch it again. It was a whitewash.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Cent0089]

Hurd looked good at the weigh in. I like this fighter, wondering if we will see changes in his game

[Autobarn]

Ha, if you’re a fan of Hurd, that’s something you don’t want to hear.

He’s basically a junior middleweight version of the late O’Neil Bell. Strong, talented, but easy to hit, barely even looks at his opponent when he throws, and he overcomes this with a relentless will to win.

The fights with Lara and Williams were terrific. He did look shopworn vs Williams, however. Almost looked like he was suffering in there (like another good slugger, Francisco Vargas, always appears to be in distress).

Got to be concerned, has Hurd lost his appetite for going in the trenches, basically his best quality, the thing that, at least to this point, elevates him above the average?

[Cent0089]

Ha, if you’re a fan of Hurd, that’s something you don’t want to hear.

He’s basically a junior middleweight version of the late O’Neil Bell. Strong, talented, but easy to hit, barely even looks at his opponent when he throws, and he overcomes this with a relentless will to win.

The fights with Lara and Williams were terrific. He did look shopworn vs Williams, however. Almost looked like he was suffering in there (like another good slugger, Francisco Vargas, always appears to be in distress).

Got to be concerned, has Hurd lost his appetite for going in the trenches, basically his best quality, the thing that, at least to this point, elevates him above the average?

Yeah i saw him fight, i still think if he can add some defense then he can defeat elite of 154 lbs division. Or am i wrong ?

[Ruthless-RKO]

[squiggy]

What were one-sided, dominant fight of the years?

I would give a shot at FOTY to fights like Pacquiao-De la Hoya, Pacquiao-Barrera I, Tyson-Spinks.

[IKSRTFO]

What were one-sided, dominant fight of the years?

These fights won Ring Fight of the Year
Ali Liston 1
Foreman Frazier 1
Holyfield Tyson 1