By Jeff Aranow: Jarrett Hurd (22-0, 15 KOs) says he wants to fight 154 pound champions Jermell Charlo and Jaime Munguia to unify the division in 2019. IBF/WBA junior middleweight champion Hurd is coming off of a 12 round split decision victory over WBA 154 pound champion Erislandy Lara from last April.
Hurd, 28, had shoulder surgery not long after that fight, and he’s expected to be out of the ring until December. According to Dan Rafael, Hurd could be fighting on the undercard of WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder’s fight against former champion Tyson Fury in December. This would be a tune-up fight for Hurd, as he’s not going to take on a tough opponent in his first fight back from shoulder surgery.
“People think I’ve been fighting smaller guys. They look at me sometimes as a weight bully,” Jarrett Hurd said to Esnewsreporting. “[People say] the reason I won these fights is because I’m much bigger than these guys. [Jaime] Munguia is a guy that my size. He’s not small for the weight class. He’s 21, he’s young, he’s hungry. Let him answer these guys that he’s not a weigh bully. I think the fight with Jermell Charlo, people think he’s the best in the weight class. They say, ‘what you did with Lara, he’s smaller. A guy like Charlo, you can’t get past him.’ I want to answer those questions too,” Hurd said.
Charlo (31-0, 15 KOs) and his brother Jermall Charlo didn’t do as well in beating Austin Trout (31-5, 17 KOs) compared to Hurd, who stopped him in the 10th round in October of last year. Jermell barely beat Trout in his last fight on June 9 in beating him by a 12 round majority decision by the scores 118-108, 115-111 and 113-113.
Munguia (30-0, 25 KOs) will be defending his World Boxing Organization junior middleweight title for the second time on September 15 against Brandon Cook (20-1, 13 KOs) on the undercard of Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Munguia, 21, made his first defense of his WBO title on July 21, defeating former WBO 154 pound champion Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith by a 12 round unanimous decision.
Munguia’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions are unlikely to let him fight an experienced fighter like Hurd. Munguia is too young and needs more experience before he’s ready to fight a guy like Hurd. If Golden Boy lets Munguia take the leap to face Hurd right now, it could be a mistake. He’s not ready for that type of opponent.
Hurd will likely get the fight with Jermell in 2019, but that’s likely it. Golden Boy Promotions will almost surely let Munguia develop more before they put him in with guys like Hurd and Jermell Charlo. Those fighters will probably not get a chance to fight Munguia until they’re fighting at 160.
”Hopefully in 2019, I can make both of those fights happen,” Hurd said about Charlo and Munguia. Everybody wants Triple G and Canelo fights. Those are the cash cows in the weight class. I’d love to prove them wrong. I want those fights. There’s a lot of names you can make fights happen,” Hurd said.
