Mayweather Promotions presents a high-level tripleheader on Showtime this Saturday, April 7 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (25-2-2, 14 KOs) vs. “Swift” Jarrett Hurd (21-0, 15 KOs) will headline the event in a Junior Middleweight title-unification bout–the IBF belt held by Hurd and IBO & WBA belts held by Lara will be on the line.
Lara is the longest reigning 154-pound champion, winning the title on Showtime in 2014. He will be making his sixth title defense Saturday night. Hurd is the IBF champion and made the first defense of his title on Showtime in October. Though Hurd is just beginning to burst onto the boxing scene, he has had seven consecutive knockouts (10 of his last 11) and continues to work his way up in the 154-pound division.
Erislandy Lara vs. Jarrett Hurd will be one of five matchups of top five contenders and top five ranked fighters to air on Showtime in just the first half of 2018. It will be an exciting year for boxing and you can expect a very competitive fight between Lara and Hurd on Saturday night.
On a recent media conference call, both fighters expressed their excitement for this upcoming bout. Hurd explained that training went well and that he is more prepared than ever.
Hurd pushed hard to make this fight happen and is ready to continue shaking up the boxing world. Lara continued the conference call by thanking Showtime, Mayweather Promotions, TGB Promotions and his entire team. Lara stated that he will be ready to fight and ready to put on a show come April 7.
Q: Jarrett, do you think those recent fights are the fights that prepared you going into this fight against Lara?
Hurd: Yes, I feel more though that my career period has prepared me for this fight. I didn’t come up the easy route. So I didn’t have a big amateur career. A lot of people didn’t want to give me a chance. I had to go out there and take them. My performances I put on when I got the opportunity each and every time on TV, I went out there and did what I was supposed to.
Q: What is your assessment of Jarrett Hurd compared to the guys you faced in your career?
Lara: I don’t compare fighters. I look at him as a young, hungry kid who’s got desire. He wants to be great. He’s going to come forward and he’s going to come ready to fight. If he doesn’t come forward, then I’ll be ready to fight, too, however it plays out. But I’m ready for everything he brings to the table.
As the press conference continued, questions arose about the winner of Lara-Hurd fighting Jermell Charlo next.
Q: Do you believe that the winner of the fight would then look to fight Charlo?
Stephen Espinoza: Absolutely. And Jermell is game. He’s on board. He’s on board for it. He was recently on SHOWTIME and he indicated he wants the winner. He wants the winner next.
Q: Jarrett, what was it about this matchup that made you want it more?
Hurd: Well, I knew both fights will eventually happen. But I feel like the fight with Erislandy Lara will give me more credibility and will put me in position at number one. I wanted to be top guy in my division and now I feel like I am the top guy in my division.
This fight, I want it over the fight with Jermell Charlo, even though the fight with Jermell Charlo is more anticipated and people want – maybe because of our styles, but I wanted this fight because I feel like it will put me to better position in the 154 division.
Q: Erislandy are you the only fighter in the division that could put Jermell Charlo in his place?
Lara: One hundred percent yes. And from my experiences of hundreds of rounds of sparring, Jermell Charlo won’t fight Erislandy Lara next when we get done with Hurd. Only time will tell.
Saturday night, Erislandy Lara and Jarrett Hurd will go toe to toe looking to prove that they deserve to be the No. 1 ranked Junior Middleweight in the world.
The winner will walk away with the majority of the 154-pound belts and look to take on Jermell Charlo in the near future as he holds the WBC title.
Tune into Showtime this Saturday night at 10:00 pm ET to watch a clash of very different styles of boxing. Lara looks to continue to hold true to his reputation as slick and technical as Hurd looks to show once again that he has the passion and power to come out victorious.
