In a fight for the vacant IBF 154 pound title, the 6’1” Jarrett Hurd (20-0, 14 Kos) TKO’d Tony Harrison (24-2, 20 KOs) in round nine to win the title last Saturday night on February 25 at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The match was stopped in the round 9 following a knockdown of Harrison. The fight was stopped at 2:34 of round 9.
He got back up but he spit out his mouthpiece when being questioned by the referee. If Harrison wanted to keep fighting, he should have bit down on his mouthpiece and let the referee know he was game for letting the fight continue. Hurd had just knocked Harrison down with a right hand. It was a good punch. Harrison had been hurt in the two prior rounds by right hands from Hurd.
Getting knocked down in the 9th might have been the final straw for Harrison. He was tired, hurt, and under heavy pressure in the 9th. Trying to survive a knockdown under those conditions might have been too much for him. There was still three rounds to go before the end of the fight, and Harrison did not look like he could take much more punishment if the fight had been continued.
Harrison was landing well with combinations in rounds 1 to 6. It looked like a mismatch for the most part. Harrison’s boxing skills out of this world good. He made Hurd look like he didn’t belong in the ring with him. Harrison started to lose to steam starting in the 7th, as he looked tired, and was hurt by an uppercut right from Hurd at the midpoint of the round. Harrison made an error in leaning forward directly in front of Hurd.
This allowed the 26-year-old Hurd to throw a right uppercut that staggered Harrison. The punch wasn’t that hard, but it didn’t need to be. Harrison wasn’t in a good position to defend himself, so he took the shot with full force. As tired as Harrison was, he couldn’t handle taking a punch like that.
“We wanted to take our time with him because Harrison can box and move. But every time he fights he wears down toward the end,” said Hurd after the fight.
The Hurd-Harrison fight was televised on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox Deportes.