By Allan Fox: Jarrett Hurd will be fighting non-contender Jason Welborn, and heavyweight contender Joe Joyce will be facing Joe Hanks on the undercard of Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury on December 1 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Hurd vs. Welborn is a tremendous mismatch. If Hurd’s shoulder is close to 100 percent for the fight, Welborn isn’t going to last long against him. Hurd is well above a fighter in Welborn’s class in terms of talent, power, size, you name it. Welborn doesn’t belong inside the ring with a fighter like Hurd if he’s fully recovered from his shoulder problem.
2016 Olympic super heavyweight silver medalist Joe Joyce (6-0, 6 KOs) is taking a small step up in facing the 35-year-old Joe Hanks (23-2, 15 KOs). Joyce, 33, wants to get a world title shot in the near future, so’s going to be moved quickly by his management against the best contenders they can get for him. They’ve been trying to get former heavyweight world title challenger Dereck Chisora to face Joyce, but they’ve had no luck. Hanks is a good option given how little time there is to find an opponent for the 6’6″ 263 lb Joyce for the December 1 card.
Hanks’ losses have come against Derric Rossy and Andy Ruiz Jr. Hanks has won his last two fights in beating Joel Caudle and Terrance Marbra. The 11-year pro Hanks will likely be over his head in facing Joyce, who some boxing fans see as a young George Foreman type of fighter.
Hurd (22-0, 15 KOs) is coming off shoulder surgery following his 12 round split decision victory over former WBA Super World junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara on April 7. It’s unclear whether Hurd’s IBF/WBA 154 lb titles will be on the line against Welborn (24-6, 7 KOs), who has won his last five fights since losing to Craig Cunningham and William Warburton. Welborn, 32, hasn’t done anything for him to deserve a world title shot against a fighter like Hurd. The fight is a mismatch on paper. Hurd is arguably the best fighter at junior middleweight today in the eyes of many boxing fans. Hurd is expected to face World Boxing Council junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (31-0, 15 KOs) in a unification fight in 2019.
Welborn, 32, has losses to Tyan Booth, Matthew Macklin, Cunningham, Warburton, Frankie Gavin and Liam Smith. Welborn’s best wins have come against Tommy Langford and Marcus Morrison.
Also on the Wilder vs. Fury card is former heavyweight world title challenger Chris Arreola fighting an opponent still to be determined in a 10 round fight, and former heavyweight world title challenger Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz facing Travis Kauffman in the televised portion of the Wilder-Fury card.
Here is the undercard fights for the Wilder vs. Fury card as of today:
– Luis Ortiz vs. Travis Kauffman
– Jarrett Hurd vs. Jason Welborn
– Joe Joyce vs. Travis Kauffman
– Isaac Lowe vs. Cristian Palma – Off TV card
– Chris Arreola vs. TBA – Off TV card