Hurd vs Rosario Predictions: Yesterday’s men fight to see tomorrow

Jarrett Hurd and Jeison Rosario meet on the downside this Wednesday, August 21, at the ProBox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida. This crossroads middleweight attraction will take place over 10 rounds. The fight will be broadcast worldwide on ProBoxTV.

Here are my Hurd vs Rosario predictions ahead of this must-win affair.

These men would find it incredibly hard to disagree that they have each seen better days. Hurd wore the WBA and IBF super welterweight titles once upon a time. Rosario was no stranger to the highest honours either, actually holding the same two championships. This came about in a sequence of events we shall return to. 

In many ways it is a shock that these men have never fought before. Each occupied a position at or near the top of the 154-pound division during the years leading into the pandemic. Leading lights of a less glamorous time for the super welterweight class. Floyd Mayweather and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s brief forays at the weight in the not-too-distant past during Hurd and Rosario’s ascents. 

But what that period lacked in box office bluster, it made up for quality of fights and fighters. A look at the record of each of our principles throws up some fine names.

Starting with the mutual opponent they share, both Hurd and Rosario have fought Julian Williams. ‘J-Rock’ shocked then-champion Hurd, dropping him in the second round before taking a close decision win to capture the WBA and IBF titles in 2019.

Williams would then lose those titles to Rosario in his first defence, getting knocked out in five rounds in his hometown of Philadelphia. It was a stunning arrival on the world scene for Rosario. But his stay would be brief, as he lost his belts to the division’s true leading light in Jermell Charlo.

Between them, Hurd and Rosario took on most of the rest of the division’s leading lights. Hurd defeated excellent former and future champions like Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout and Tony Harrison. Rosario lost to Erickson Lubin and Brian Mendoza, two of the best contenders of the day. When stacking their records together, Brian Castano is arguably the only standout 154-pounder of the era that neither man fought.

But that era is in the past now. Well, mostly. Lara is the reigning WBA middleweight champion at the age of 41. Lubin is only 28, having been the youngest of that top-level group. He is highly-ranked by most sanctioning bodies, making good on his obvious potential.

But beyond that, most of the greats of the day are showing signs of wear and tear. Mendoza has lost two on the trot. Harrison has won just one of his last four fights. Trout has taken to low-stakes eight-rounders and a side hustle in the world of bare-knuckle. Castano hasn’t boxed in two years since Charlo knocked him out. Charlo went up two divisions in his last fight, losing to ‘Canelo’ at super middleweight in an ill-advised sojourn.

The pre-2020 super welterweight bubble has been demolished by the ravages of time. Now Hurd and Rosario fight in the debris, albeit at a more hospitable 160 pounds. 

At the age of 33, and riding two losses, Hurd looks the most at-risk here. ‘Swift’ has never truly bounced back from the Williams defeat. He has gone 2-2 since, but back-to-back losses to Luis Arias and Jose Armando Resendiz seem to have put paid to his world-level ambitions. A four-round retirement of punching bag Tyi Edmonds will have restored a little confidence, but nothing more.

Rosario is only 29 years old, a year younger than the thriving Lubin. But knockout losses to him, Charlo and Mendoza seem to have sapped his youth. The Dominican has gone a similar route to Hurd, winning a confidence-restorer by knockout over Israel Valerio Nina.

This fight is both a symbol of decline and also the toughest each man has had for a while. It is intriguing cos their decay has happened parallel to each other. They peaked and troughed at around the same time. This fight will be close and possibly explosive.

Hurd vs Rosario Fight Odds

Hurd is priced up at 8/11 to win while Rosario can be backed at 11/10. A draw is available at 14/1.

Hurd vs Rosario Full Card

Jarrett Hurd vs Jeison Rosario

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Hurd vs Rosario Prediction

Rosario may have eaten more knockouts than Hurd recently, I do see more in his game than Hurd at this stage. Four years younger and with greater reflexes than his opponent, I think Rosario can prevail. Hurd looks vulnerable and I think he will succumb.

My pick is Rosario to win at odds of 11/10.

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