Jarrett Hurd and Jeison 'Banana' Rosario were ready to be arrested.
The pair of former WBA/IBF 154-pound title holders fought to a ten-round split decision. Their fight above the middleweight limit saw each boxer claiming a score of 96-94. Judge Jed O'Connor (95-95) failed to find a winner in their ProBox TV main event Wednesday evening from the ProBox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida.
Hurd fought hard behind the jab in the early rounds. The process approach was taken by an earlier integrated list from Accokeek, Maryland. Rosario played defense, a smart tactic given his sordid history of collapsing when injured. The 29-year-old Dominican stood right in front of Hurd but was never in real danger at any point in the fight.
The closest to any drama along those lines came during the war. Hurd fell to the ropes after Rosario accidentally hit him in the shoulder. When the action resumed, Hurd connected with a right hand, left hook, right hand combination. Rosario's legs did a brief dance but then he remained silent.
Rosario picked up the pace in the seventh round. Hurd's already deliberate attack was slowed down as Rosario applied the pressure. It went into the eighth before Hurd returned to the jab to control most of the ninth round.
The tenth and final round saw Rosario moving forward and trying to force an aggressive pace. It was an approach that had to be accepted by Hurd, who surrendered the round—and with it, what would have been a victory.
At his peak, Hurd was among the best middleweights in the world. He held the IBF belt from 2017-2019 and added the WBA belt during his reign. It ended in May 2019 with a points loss to Julian 'J-Rock' Williams in the greater Washington DC area, close to his hometown.
Rosario won the belts in a fifth-round knockout of Williams on Jan. 2020. Defeated Jermell Charlo via eighth round knockout in their September 2020 RING, WBC, WBA and IBF bouts. Rosario has lost three times in a six-fight span but now has a win and a draw in his last two bouts.
Hurd was favored to win on Wednesday and his stock has fallen significantly as a result. He is now 1-3-1 in his last five fights.
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