By: Sean Crose
The Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York, hosted three major super welterweight bouts on Saturday, in a card which was aired live by the Showtime pay cable network. First up was a twelve rounder between 30-3 former titlist Austin Trout and 20-0 IBF Super Welterweight Champion Jarrett Hurd. Neither man was dominant in the first, but Trout and his clean punching had an edge. Trout moved well, employed angles and hit with effectiveness in the second. The third was close, but a more aggressive Hurd may have taken it by a hair.
Photo Credit: Stephanie Trapp/Showtime
By the fourth round, Trout was hitting hard and with precision. Hurd landed hard in fifth, however. Trout punched clean and often again in the 6th, yet by the end of the round, Hurd caused his man to stumble. Hurd continued to do damage in the early part of the 7th, but Trout was able to make up some ground.
Hurd’s strength looked to be coming through in the 8th, but Trout remained effective with his shots. Trout was clearly starting to gas, however. Entering the championship rounds, it was Hurd who looked fresher. Trout controlled the tenth until the very end, when Hurd almost finished him. The ring doctor halted the proceedings in between rounds
Next up was Jermell Charlo, 29-0 and Erickson Lubin, 18-0, for the WBC world super welterweight title. The first part of the first was slow. The second part was slow, too – until Charlo, the champion, took his man out with a single shot. “They threw a chair at my brother.”Charlo said after the bout, referring to an unseen incident. No one seemed to be seriously hurt. Not even Lubin.
It was time for the final event of the evening. Cuban-American Erislandy Lara, 24-2-2, defended his WBA super world super welterweight title against former US Olympian Terrell Gausha, 20-0. Lara, the southpaw, was able to control the first. The second was more of the same. Ditto for the third. The crowd started booing at the inaction in the fourth – only to have Lara suddenly drop his man with a right. Guasha got up, but was unable to effectively engage. Laura continued to dominate in patient fashion.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh were virtual repeats of each other. Lara dominated. Gausha was unable to make headway. The crowd booed again and began to empty the Barclay’s Center. In the eighth, Lara began to hurt his man. Gausha, though, was able to make it to the final bell. “There’s no change of gears,” Showtime’s Paulie Malignaggi claimed correctly. The fight stayed at the same pace throughout. Lara was rewarded with a unanimous decision win.
