2018 Boxing Upfront | SHOWTIME Sports & Premier Boxing Champions

That ring looked mighty small for Austin Trout?

Hurd is a more accurate puncher than Lara himself. Lara will need to get in range to get off, he will need to put extra pop on his shots to slow Jarrett down too. It all points to Lara working harder than he has recently?

Lara is not the most comfortable underfire and when the heat is on and the pressure is up Hurd has managed to come on strongest. Hurd is supremely fit and he is a good thinker in the ring, always sticks to a game plan and makes it work.

 

Hurd may not appeal to your sense of aesthetics, but he's effective as hell. Goes well to the body; manages to roll or slip a lot more of an opponent's incoming than given credit for doing, varies the power of the shots he throws and has a knack for building upon whatever success he enjoys. I think he wears down and stops someone who hasn't faced anyone really threatening for a while and who has shown that he can be outhustled in the past by fighters who don't have the same type of style that he does.

I'm looking forward to this match-up, and to your reaction when you realize Hurd is a lot more dangerous than you think.

Danny Garcia-Brandon Rios, incidentally, is a fun match-up that's almost guaranteed to produce some decent action for as long as it lasts, given their respective styles. I wouldn't poo-pooh that match-up's entertainment value, either.

I mean, if SSR-Estrada is your holy grail, then so be it. But that doesn't diminish the value of Hurd-Lara in any way, shape or form.

 

Stevenson vs. Jack, Lara vs. Hurd, and Wilder vs. Ortiz are some top class fights. We have the two best welterweights in Thurman and Spence. Santa Cruz vs. Mares II, although totally not my bag at all, is a great fight on paper that I imagine most people should be real excited for. Mikey vs. Lipinets is a worthy fight. Even Broner is fighting Figueroa which is interesting and it will be a fun watch. Certainly not the often "cupcakes" for these guys, right? Both Charlos are fighting again. If Danny Garcia vs. Brandon Rios and a random Gervonta Davis fight are the worst of the announced lot, I would say that's good.

If you didn't think that was impressive then you got some issues. From a business/future POV, Showtime has to be hoping most for Wilder to win. After that, I'm sure they'd want Hurd, Mikey, Jack, Broner. I will say that none of this really propels any of them to any sort of crazy superstar level beyond what they are already pretty much fancied. Hopefully in the second half of the year we see: Mikey in a big fight, Thurman and Spence in big fights, Santa Cruz in a big fight. It's not a bold prediction to say we might see: Thurman/Garcia II, Garcia vs. Broner, or some combination of Lara/Hurd/Charlos, also Santa Cruz/Frampton III.

 

I am excited for the Lara, Stevenson and Broner fights. the rest is meh...
I was expecting more.
I actually thought we might see those awesome triple- and quadruple headers we saw in 2013

 

All that was missing from the Showtime Crew was Mayweather and Joshua.

 

Why are the LSC/Mares and Spence fights so far away?