Miami Gardens, Fla.

Ron Harris – Former unified Jr Middleweight champion, “Swift” Jarrett Hurd, known as a slow starter, put himself in a position to have to come back against Luis Arias (19-2-1, 9 KO’s) and he could not do it.  He lost the early rounds to the more aggressive Arias and even with a credited knock down of Arias, in round 9, [it was more of a slip than a knock down], he lost a split decision fighting at the middleweight of 160 pounds for the first time.  The judges scored the fight 95-94 for Hurd and 97-93 and 96-93 for Arias. 

Arias found a home for his overhead right hand that landed flush in Hurd’s face throughout the fight.  Hurd had no answer for that punch all night.  “I’m not sure what went wrong tonight,” said Hurd.  “I believe I won the fight.  I had a knock down.  I could make a hundred excuses, but it wasn’t a great performance.”

One excuse could be that he was thinking about his father who passed away in March.  His dad was a constant in Hurd’s life.  He was at every gym session and of course he was at every fight.  Hurd hails from Accokeek, Md. He had not fought in 17 months. 

Hurd’s plan was to move and box Arias.  When he did that, he was effective with his jab and his combinations.  He bloodied Arias’ face and wobbled him several times.  The problem for Hurd came during the close in fighting.  Arias landed that right hand during those chest-to-chest exchanges over and over.  “Our plan was for me to box and move.  But when the rain made the canvas slippery, I did not feel comfortable moving,” said Hurd (24-2, 16 KO’s).  “I was not comfortable with my feet as the rain came down, so I had to go toe to toe more.”  Arias slipped more than once, and the referee and outside staff were on their knees trying to dry the canvas.  It was pouring and the wind was blowing the rain inside the ring.  The action was paused more than once during the fight. 

A lost like this puts Hurd back in the pack for a title shot at Jr middleweight or middleweight.  A rematch with Arias may be the best thing going for Hurd at this point.  “I’ll take a rematch at whatever weight.  I know I am the better man.”

Arias had lost 2 out of his last 3 fights and many gave him no chance against Hurd.  “The plan was to jump on him and get the early lead and keep it,” said Arias.  “I felt like in the middle rounds I was winning the fight, but you never know because I was not the A-side in this fight.  I buzzed him a lot, especially on the inside.”  Losses in boxing are hard to bounce back from.