(Photos by David Algranati)
In a ten-round co-feature bout former IBF/WBA/IBO Super Welterweight champion "Swift" Jarrett Hurd of Accokeek, MD defeated Francisco "Chia" Santana of Santa Barbara, CA by unanimous decision at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Francisco Santana came up from the 147 lb welterweight division to take on the much larger than normal 154 lb junior middleweight "Swift" Jarrett Hurd.
In this scheduled ten-round bout the size advantage of Hurd definitely showed. Hurd was able to easily touch Santana with his jab as he moved around the ring in the first and second rounds. In the third-round Hurd added the right cross after landing his jab and did much of the same in round four. It was in the fifth-round when Hurd started to add more power to his punches. Santana was taking a lot of Hurd's shots but it wasn't a wise thing to do.
In the second half of the bout Hurd looked to put more combinations together and prove he was more of a boxer with a few added moments of the old Hurd's power shots. Santana made the huge mistake of trying to stand in front of Hurd. With Santana being so close to Hurd the crowd was looking for a knockout from the former champion. Santana stayed in the contest by coming forward even after taking so many of those hard shots from Hurd until the final seconds of the fight when Hurd dropped him to the canvas with a uppercut for an eight count. Hurd went on to win the bout by the scores of 97-92 and 99-90 twice.
Jarrett Hurd improves to (24-1, 16 KO's) while Francisco Santana falls to (25-8-1, 12 KO's).
JARRETT HURD
"We came out here and did what we wanted to do. The crowd didn't love it, but you gotta understand, I got the unanimous decision and I did what I wanted to do.”
“There was definitely no frustration. We didn’t want to go toe to toe and we didn’t want to make this a risky fight.
“We’ve moved on from the Julian Williams fight. We came out here, we had a long lay-off and we got the job done.”
“We want the belts. We want the best. I’m not exactly sure what’s going to be the next move, but we want the belts.”
FRANCISCO SANTANA
"In the last round I wanted to come forward and close it hard, but I got a little bit careless for a second. In boxing you have to stay focused for every second of every round. He caught me with a good shot.
"I just wanted to keep coming forward and give it my all. I know I was frustrating him at times, but it was a tall task and I don't make any excuses."
(Photos by Davis Algranati)
In a eight-round contest at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, District Heights, MD welterweight Keeshawn Williams defeated Gaku Takahashi of Yubari, Japan by unanimous decision.
This was Williams first eight-rounder coming into this bout with the taller Takahashi, who looked to have a very awkward style while fighting as a southpaw. Williams couldn't find his range like he wanted as the first-round ended. Williams looked to use the method of counter punching, which seemed to work. Williams started to settle himself down to land some good right hands. Williams did a good job of taking his time to create openings to land clean shots from the use of his defense. Round four started off with both fighters on the ropes throwing heavy shots with Takahashi coming out with a bloody left eye. Takahashi bounced back to open round five with a good jab that landed on Williams. Williams still was in control of the bout as he continued land counter shots off of Takahashi mistakes. Williams raised his punch output in the final two round, but it was the right hand that landed the most to give Williams the clear victory over Takahashi. The judges scored the contest 79-73, 78-74 and 80-72 for Williams.
Keeshawn Williams record improves to (7-0-1, 2 KO's) as the veteran Takahashi falls to (16-11-1, 8 KO's).
(Photos by David Algranati)
In a six-round middleweight contest, Baltimore, MD's Lorenzo "TRUCK" Simpson won by unanimous decision over Antonio Hernandez of Kansas City at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Simpson did a great job of using his jab and some good bodywork with the left hand. Simpson's jab setup some his left hooks that landed to the head of Hernandez in the middle of this scheduled six-round contest. In round four Simpson moved in closer to capitalize on the body shots that seemed to bother Hernandez in the early rounds. Simpson looked very relaxed going into the fifth-round as he showed a little more movement. Hernandez was very game while he exchanged shots with Simpson and even landed a few good shots of his own to win round five.. Both fighters came out slugging in the final round. This clearly looks like the type of fight Simpson needed to have at this point of his career. Hernandez stood in strong and took everything Simpson had to offer as the contest ended. All the judges scored the bout for Simpson, 59-55.
Lorenzo Simpson remains undefeated with a record of (7-0, 4 KO's) while Hernandez falls to (2-11-1).
In the second half of the bout Hurd looked to put more combinations together and prove he was more of a boxer with a few added moments of the old Hurd's power shots. Santana made the huge mistake of trying to stand in front of Hurd. With Santana being so close to Hurd the crowd was looking for a knockout from the former champion. Santana stayed in the contest by coming forward even after taking so many of those hard shots from Hurd until the final seconds of the fight when Hurd dropped him to the canvas with a uppercut for an eight count. Hurd went on to win the bout by the scores of 97-92 and 99-90 twice.
