By: Hector Franco
MIAMI, FL – One of the main co-feature bouts on the Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul undercard featured former unified junior middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd (24-2, 16 KOs) taking on middleweight contender Luis Arias (19-2-1, 9 KOs) in a 10-round middleweight bout.
Arias scored an upset victory in a spirited effort winning a split decision outworking Hurd over 10 rounds. One judge scored the fight for Hurd at 95-94, and the other two judges scored the fight 97-93 and 96-93 for Arias.
Hurd has been out of the ring for over a year, having last fought in January 2020 against Francisco Santana, winning a unanimous decision. Arias, who hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has not had a victory in almost four years, having last had his hand raised in June 2017.
In his previous three bouts, Arias lost decisions to Luke Keeler and Daniel Jacobs and settled for a draw with Gabriel Rosado.
Arias entered the ring against Hurd with a chip on his shoulder, feeling that the Maryland native was overlooking him and thinking too much about current junior middleweight kingpin Jermell Charlo.
The fight began with Arias quickly taking the role of the aggressor using his jab and landing clean right hands that got Hurd’s attention. Arias successfully put Hurd on notice that this would not be an easy night at the office.
In the second round, the fight was paused due to a gust of wind pushing some south Florida rain into the ring. The pause in action seemed to benefit Hurd, who began to land his own right hands on the inside. One right hand by Hurd caused a cut above Arias’s right eye; however, the Milwaukee native’s corner did a good job closing the cut.
The third and fourth rounds continued a pattern of Arias pushing Hurd back while landing right hands like target practice. The referee Chris Young allowed both men to fight on the inside allowing for some stellar exchanges between the two.
The momentum began to shift in the fifth round as Hurd began to push Arias back and land some punishing shots to the body and head. Both men had their moments, but it seemed like the fight was changing in Hurd’s favor.
At the halfway point, Showtime’s Steve Farhood had the fight scored 49-46 for Arias, giving him four of the first five rounds.
By the seventh round, Arias began to look fatigued while Hurd looked like the fight was just getting started for him. Hurd landed two shots below the belt on Arias in the round; however, the Milwaukee native responded well by keeping his composure.
In between rounds, there was a sense in Arias’s corner that the fight was slipping away from him as his trainers urged him to keep being the aggressor.
Arguably, the most controversial moment in the fight took place in the ninth round after Arias slipped to the canvas during an exchange where on replay, it did not look like a punch landed.
Referee Chris Young scored a knockdown for Hurd, although there was just a pause in action due to rain once again getting in the ring.
The 10th and final round was dominated by Arias, who took the fight to Hurd. Arias continued to apply the pressure while Hurd labored on the ropes, getting hit by combinations.
The Compubox numbers slightly favored Arias as they had him landing 163 out 478 total punches compared to Hurd’s 151 out of 501 punches.
Regardless of the outcome, the fight was highly entertaining, and a rematch would likely be welcomed by both fighters and fans.
