Hurd Stops Trout In 10th To Defend IBF Title!

(Photo by Tom Casino/Showtime)

In a bout that will get some votes for Bout Of The Year, IBF Junior Middleweight champion "Swift" Jarrett Hurd of Accokeek, MD scored a 10th round TKO over former world champion Austin "No Doubt" Trout of Las Cruces, NM Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.  The bout was shown as part of a 154-pound tripleheader on Showtime.

Hurd started off slowly in the contest as Trout, who was fighting for the first time in 17 months, was able to establish his jab in the first two rounds.  Hurd started to take some control of the contest in the third as he and his challenger started to trade clean shots.  Hurd showed a great chin as he was able to seemingly walk through Trout's punches.

In the sixth round, Hurd took complete control of the contest as he hurt Trout with a right hand that staggered him into the corner.  Trout, to his credit, came back in the waning moments of that round.  In the seventh, Hurd suffered a cut over the left eye because of an accidental head butt but that didn't seem to faze the champion as he caught the former WBA titleholder with a solid right hand.

Hurd was able to damage Trout's right eye in the eighth round but Trout showed a lot of guts and was battling Hurd toe to toe.  However, by the ninth, Trout's eye was nearly swollen shut.  Hurd punished Trout in the 10th round and after the round, referee Eddie Claudio stopped the contest on the advice of the ringside doctor in Trout's corner.  This was the first time Trout had been stopped in his career.

Hurd remains undefeated with a record of 21-0, 15 KO's and looks to unify against either WBC champion Jermell Charlo or WBA titleholder Erislandy Lara, who both won their bouts on the same card.  Trout falls to 30-4, 17 KO's.