Hurd hoping new trainer will help against Santana

Jarrett Hurd is in action this Saturday and is hoping a new trainer in his corner will help against Francisco Santana.

Hurd was last in action on the wrong end of the FIght of the Year candidate previous year against Julian Williams. In that contest, Hurd, in that homecoming bout being defeated by Williams by unanimous decision, cost him the WBA and IBF titles he held. Hurd speaking at the media workouts held in the infamous Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn is looking to get back on track in the co-main at the Barclays Center on Showtime.

“I’m so focused on taking care of Francisco Santana,” Hurd said at the media workouts Wednesday. “I can’t look past him. He’s a guy who comes forward. This is a fight where I want to see how things work out with my new trainer Kay Koroma, but Santana comes to fight just like Jeison Rosario did. I have to be on my toes.

“There’s not too much of a difference for my training, other than being away from home. We’ve worked a
lot on fundamentals with my new trainer. It’s not that we didn’t have them before, but we’ve focused on
them much more. It’s not all about heart and will in a fight. Sometimes you have to get back to the
basics.”

#MediaWorkouts Feeling sharp and ready! ⚡️ #HurdSantana #GarciaRedkach pic.twitter.com/ElN2QrTVgO

— SW⚡️FT Jarrett Hurd (@Swift_JHurd) January 22, 2020

That new training consists of a new trainer in Kay Koroma, who helped Hurd get prepared for this contest against Santana. Koroma will be making his debut in Hurd’s corner, replacing longtime trainer Ernesto “Nesto” Rodriguez for a dozen years. Koroma in camp focused on Hurd and his defense, something many observed that he was getting hit a lot in his loss to Williams.

“We’ve been working on defense, so he can read when punches are coming,” said  Koroma in an interview with Premier Boxing Champions earlier this month. “Being in the right position to get away from the punch but also be able to throw a counter. When to throw power, when to touch, when not to fight backwards, knowing where you are in the ring so all the judges can see you scoring.”

This new focus also is what Hurd agrees with.

“I look back at my fights, and it kind of scares me all the hits I was taking,” Hurd said. “I had back to back Fight of the Year battles. Those were back and forth fights. I don’t want those each and every year. I want to win in
one-sided fashion.

Hurd with a victory over Santana, which is likely to happen this weekend, will put him back in the mix of what is becoming a very crowded party at Super Welterweight. One person in that party would be Williams for a rematch sometime this year.