Erislandy Lara Vs. Jarrett Hurd Media Conference Call Transcript
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Erislandy Lara vs. Jarrett Hurd Media Conference Call Transcript Leonard Ellerbe Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our call today. We’re very excited. What a great card we have come April the 7th from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. In the main event, we have Erislandy Lara versus Jarrett Hurd in an outstanding unification fight which will determine supremacy at the 154- weight class. In the co-main event, we have a great rematch of a fight that saw Caleb Truax wrestle the IBF Super Middleweight Championship away from James DeGale. That’s going to be a terrific fight also. In the opening bout, we have Julian Williams taking on Nathaniel Gallimore in what will be a very, very entertaining fight as an IBF Junior Middleweight Elimination Bout. Our card is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and TGB Promotions. Tickets are still on sale at AXS.com and it starts as cheap as $50. Again, this will be a terrific card led by none other than – I’m going to introduce the man who’s totally responsible for putting all this together, none other than Stephen Espinoza. Stephen Espinoza Thanks, Leonard. Well, the hits keep coming here at SHOWTIME, coming off of a huge March schedule highlighted by the two big time heavyweight title fights. April on SHOWTIME will feature two stellar cards from Mayweather Promotions. The first on April 7 is a high-quality tripleheader, three competitively matched fights with world title implications and our main event, Lara versus Hurd, a unification fight, featuring two of the top three consensus in the world at 154 pounds. Sort of the natural evolution of what has been an unofficial super welterweight tournament over the last year, year and a half on SHOWTIME. In 2017, SHOWTIME televised eight matchups featuring all of the top five ranked super welterweight champions and challengers in that unofficial tournament. Now we get the natural results of that, a unification fight which happens to be only the sixth unification fight in the history of the 154- pound division. Erislandy Lara, he’s the WBA champ, the longest reigning champion at 154 pounds. He won the WBA title on SHOWTIME in 2014 and he’s now making his sixth defense. With a record of 25-2-2, he could easily make the case that he could be undefeated certainly. The loss to Paul Williams was very controversial and a very close split decision loss to Canelo. So we very well could have an undefeated fighter. Jarrett Hurd is the IBF champion. He made the first defense of his title on SHOWTIME in October. He has scored seven consecutive KOs as his level of bout position has dramatically increased and, in fact, he really has burst on the scene lately. His first televised fight was on SHOBOX in 2015, a KO of Frank Galarza, and he’s been on a roll ever since. This fight, this main event, Lara versus Hurd, is one of five matchups of top five contenders, top five ranked fighters, on the SHOWTIME schedule just in the first half of this year. So we look forward to a great fight, a great card on April 7th. L. Ellerbe Thank you, Stephen. I would like to introduce the IBF world champion. What an outstanding young fighter. He’s from my hometown. He lives and trains out of Accokeek, Maryland. Always in exciting fights and we expect nothing different come April the 7th. He’s undefeated with a record of 21-0, with 15 KOs. He’s coming off of career-defining TKO victory over Austin Trout. Ladies and gentlemen, the IBF Junior Middleweight Champion, “Swift” Jarrett Hurd. Jarrett Hurd Training is going well. We’re getting prepared. This is a fight that I wanted just as bad as any and I’m glad we can make it happen. I just can’t wait to put on a show. L. Ellerbe Great. Okay. Next up, we have Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara with a record of 25 and 2 with 14 KOs. And again, as Stephen mentioned earlier, Lara is the longest reigning champion at 154. A tremendous boxer, real slick, real smooth. He’s been in there with all the top guys in the weight class and again, he’ll be looking to put on another great performance come April the 7th. So, ladies and gentlemen, Erislandy Lara. Erislandy Lara First I want to thank everyone on the call. Most importantly, I’d like to thank SHOWTIME for putting on a great fight, thank Mayweather Promotions, TGB Promotions and my whole team. Come April 7, I’ll be ready to fight and ready to put on a show. Q For Stephen, I’m just wondering if you could give your thought process as to what made you decide to make a matchup between Erislandy Lara and Hurd as opposed to either of those guys against Charlo. S. Espinoza I think it was really the style matchup. When we sat down and looked at them, they’re three exciting fighters, three great champions, but the matchup that was really intriguing because of the styles was Lara versus Hurd. Erislandy has never shied away from any challenge. Jarrett was very vocal about wanting to unify. And the combination of their styles, where they are in their careers, it seemed like an intriguing matchup. Q Do you believe that the winner of the fight would then look to fight Charlo? S. Espinoza Absolutely. And Jermell is game. He’s on board. He’s on board for it. He was recently on SHOWTIME and he indicated he wants the winner. He wants the winner next. Q Jarrett, what was it about this matchup that made you want it more? J. Hurd Well, I knew both fights will eventually happen. But I feel like the fight with Erislandy Lara will give me more credibility and will put me in position at number one. I wanted to be top guy in my division and now I feel like I am the top guy in my division. This fight, I want it over the fight with Jermell Charlo, even though the fight with Jermell Charlo is more anticipated and people want – maybe because of our styles, but I wanted this fight because I feel like it will put me to better position in the 154 division. Q Do you feel like at 27 years old you’re now in your prime and that basically whether it’s Erislandy Lara, or anybody else in the weight class that Jarrett Hurd’s punching power can take care of them? J. Hurd I feel like my power – I have the power that’s deceptive and it doesn’t look as hard on TV or while you’re in there until you feel it. It’s a total different story. I feel like my power can stop anyone, put anyone down. But on April 7th, the knockout streak, I’ll stop another guy and I plan on continuing to keep doing. Q Are you ready for a much different kind of style in an experienced fighter like Lara? How do you deal with that kind of skill? J. Hurd Lara, he’s been the longest reigning champion at 154. I’ve been fighting at 154 all my life, so we’ve been watching him since I turned professional and the style Lara presents we’ve been training for this long before this training camp. He’s a great champion but Lara has always been on top and we always study and the game plan we got is perfect and this is why we wanted the fight. It’s no secret how badly I wanted this fight. Of course, I’m not going to stay in there and try to box with Lara because Lara is an expert on what he does. Lara is not going to stand there toe-to-toe with me because of my size, inside game and my power. So it’s going to be a cat and mouse game and I just can’t wait to show you guys that outcome. Q I wonder if Lara could give me his perspective on where he thinks Jarrett Hurd falls in the weight class and whether or not he feels like he is going to have to outbox him or maybe he can mix it up with him a bit. E. Lara I’m ready to go for April 7th. Jarrett Hurd, as everyone knows, he’s a big, strong fighter, but pretty basic. He can try to fight, kind of like a Mexican strong style and those are styles that I’d like to fight. So come April 7th, we hope he’s prepared. I’m prepared and want to put on a great fight for the fans and for the writers and for everyone else. Q Was this a fight that Erislandy wanted or would he have preferred a Charlo unification? E. Lara As everyone knows, I was the one who wanted this fight. He won his title in February, I wanted to fight him in October and his team said he wasn’t ready to fight me in October. They wanted him to be prepared to fight another southpaw and prepare for me. So, as the pressure mounted, Jarrett Hurd decided just to fight. So I’m happy he stepped up to the plate but as everyone knows, I want his belt and I want the other belts in this division as well. Q Jarrett, how do you feel Erislandy compares to Trout in the sense of how much better he might be and how much of a step-up in competition it is for you? J.