Jarrett Hurd v Jeison Rosario: A ‘Make Or Break’ Fight Between Former Champions
On Wednesday night at ProBox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida, two former world champions, Jarrett Hurd and Jeison Rosario, will fight for their careers.
Hurd (25-3-0 17 KO) and Rosario (24-4-1 18 KO) both held the IBF’s super-welterweight world title but have since stepped up to middleweight, where mixed records in recent years leave their respective futures in doubt, particularly for the loser of their bout.
Hurd took a familiar professional path for a fighter of his talent, easing his way through the ranks to claim 19 straight victories and earn his first world title shot. He fought Tony Harrison for the IBF’s vacant 154lbs belt in February 2017 and became a world champion with a seventh-round stoppage.
Three successful title defenses followed, stopping Austin Trout in a 10th-round retirement, edging reigning WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara on a split decision – to also collect the minor IBO belt – and knocking out Jason Welborn in the fourth round.
However, a first defeat threatened to derail Hurd’s career when, in his fourth defense in May 2019, the Maryland native was beaten on points by Julian Williams.
Hurd Struggles On Middleweight Move
Hurd, a fighter known for taking almost as much punishment as he gave, returned seven months later with a new approach and cruised to a points win over Francisco Santana in a catchweight bout.
His newfound method didn’t stick for his next fight on his middleweight debut, though, and he slipped to his second defeat on a split decision after a war with Luis Arias having taken an 18-month break from boxing.
‘Swift’ then went 0-2 as a middleweight in March 2023, falling to his first stoppage defeat when the doctor waved off his fight against Jose Armando Resendiz in the final round due to a severe lip laceration.
Hurd did get off the middleweight mark in his last bout in December, but a stoppage of journeyman Tyi Edmonds in an eight-round bout did little to convince whether the now 33-year-old fighter is close to his mid-20s prime.
It makes Wednesday’s bout with Rosario critical to his future – and Hurd admits it himself.
“I can’t really speak for him, but it’s definitely make or break for me,” Hurd said. “I feel like if I can’t get a win over Jeison Rosario, that answers the question, ‘Will I make it back to that top level?’ This fight right here is gonna answer a lot of questions for me.”
Rosario Faces Career Crossroads
Rosario is four years younger than Hurd but is still at a career crossroads heading into this fight.
Fighting exclusively in his native Dominican Republic for his first 12 fights – all of them wins – Rosario lost on his American debut in April 2017, getting stopped in the sixth round by Nathaniel Gallimore in April 2017.
It ultimately proved a minor setback for the Dominican, who won seven of his next eight fights – the other being a split-decision draw – to set up a shot at IBF champion Williams in his first title defense since beating Hurd.
Rosario shocked Williams in January 2020 with a fifth-round knockout to become a world champion and set up a unification showdown with WBC title holder Jermell Charlo. ‘Banana’ kept their September 2020 bout competitive on the scorecards, despite getting knocked down three times, until Charlo sealed the stoppage victory in the eighth round.
Rosario then suffered back-to-back knockout defeats to leave his time at the top of the division looking under threat when he was stopped by contender Erickson Lubin in the sixth round in June 2021. He returned to his homeland and collected three straight morale-boosting wins, but his return to the U.S saw another defeat, this time to Brian Mendoza in November 2022.
Once again, Rosario returned home for his last fight and got back to winning ways, but as he heads to Florida to fight Hurd, he will do so on a three-fight losing streak in the United States.
“Obviously, I think this is kind of a do-or-die for both guys,” said Rosario’s new coach, Bob Santos. “They’re both pretty much in the same position.”
The precarious position in which both fighters find their careers makes this an intriguing bout. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to watch some mid-week boxing.
