In a fight for the vacant IBF junior middleweight belt, Jarrett Hurd (20-0, 14 KO) took on Tony Harrison (24-2, 20 KO). After a tentative, feeling-out first round, Harrison was able to catch Swift coming in, while Swift followed Harrison around without cutting off the ring. Action heated up in the third when Harrison started putting his punches together, landing a few quick combos with conviction.
Harrison liberally used his legs in the fourth while some of Hurd’s jabs started to connect, but Hurd’s best moment in the fifth came courtesy of a right that clipped Harrison’s chin with seconds to go. Harrison retaliated in the sixth with a few combinations, but Hurd too started throwing with more power–and in the seventh he was able to wobble Harrison more than once with heavy right hands. Hurd hurt Harrison with more chopping right hands in Round 8; Harrison would at times look out on his feet, then lash out with his own power shots. The ninth round was competitive until Hurd landed a game-changing right hand on the button and scored a knockdown. Harrison got to his feet but spit out his mouthpiece, leading the ref to wave off the bout at 2:24.
