>I think you are selling Hurd a bit short. We have watched him
>get outboxed by world class "boxers." But if you watch some
>of his earlier fights before he got to the championship level
>he showed more boxing ability.



I agree that he boxed completely differently THEN. He used movement and exercised patience. Lately, he just uses pressure and size as if a light bulb went off in his head and he said to himself "Wait a minute! I'm too big for all the guys in this weight class! Why am I wasting time trying to 'box' them? I can just walk them down." And that's exactly what he started doing.



>Trout soundly defeated Cotto
>and was in tough with Canelo. Lara is one of the greatest
>boxers of his era. The Harrison/Charlo fight was no fluke. I
>think it takes more than size alone to win fights at the
>highest level.

Charlo and Harrison are pretty much the same size and Harrison outboxed Charlo.. very nicely. I love watching that fight.. watched it many times since it aired. Cotto was a small 154 also. Notice none of those guys walk around at cruiserweight.
Here's the thing... if you're walking around at cruiserweight/heavyweight, no fight at 154 is the "highest level" for you. Against both Trout and Lara, Hurd was thoroughly outboxed and caught with multiple clean shots. If those two guys shared his own size and strength, he would've been KO'd or at least staggered multiple times. Hell Trout just looked like he wore himself out beating up on Hurd while Hurd just kept drudging forward like a caveman on some unga bunga. This is why we have weight classes. Trout and Lara being high level boxers is the only reason they did so well against a guy that big. However, all he did was take their shots and keep applying pressure. He didn't show any sound defense, head movement, IQ.. nothing. He didn't even need boxing training to win those fights the way he did. The most I can give him is that he cut the ring off pretty well and had decent stamina (and he invested in the body a lot in the Lara fight). If you have enough size in a fight, those two things are all you need. His greatest skill is his ability to cut 50 lbs. I'm just tired of seeing this guy at 154 unless another cruiserweight is gonna shrink down there to fight him. I like seeing boxing skill. If you're so big for your weight class that you don't need it, it's time to move up and challenge yourself unless you're a heavyweight and there's no where else to go. Just my thoughts on Hurd.