Can Jeison Rosario revive his career in a clash with Jarrett Hurd?

Middleweight Jeison Rosario of the Dominican Republic is preparing for a career-defining fight against fellow former junior middleweight titleholder Jarrett Hurd of Accokeek, Maryland, in a 10-round middleweight main event in Plant City, Florida. The stakes couldn’t be higher for both fighters as they face a critical crossroads in their careers.

Rosario, 29, (24-4-1, 18 KOs), burst onto the scene with a stunning victory over Julian Williams to capture the unified junior middleweight titles in 2020. However, his career has since taken a downward turn with losses in his three most significant bouts over the past four years – each ending in stoppages. Rosario fell to Jermell Charlo in a pay-per-view bout, Erickson Lubin, and most recently, in November 2022, Brian Mendoza, at middleweight. In between, he fought stay-busy bouts, but the momentum has not been in his favor.

Hurd, 33, (25-3, 17 KOs), is in a similar position, having lost three of his last five fights. After losing his belts to Julian Williams, he was outboxed by Luis Arias and suffered a stoppage loss to Jose Resendiz in February 2023. Neither fighter is riding much momentum into this matchup, making the stakes even more significant.

“Obviously, I think this is kind of a do-or-die for both guys,” said Rosario’s new coach, Bob Santos. “They’re both pretty much in the same position.”

This fight marks Santos’ first outing with Rosario. Rosario took a stay-busy fight in November, but has not fought at a world-class level in roughly two years, has struggled with lifestyle choices that have hampered his career – a situation Santos is determined to reverse.

“It would have been nice to have gotten some kind of a tune-up going into this fight, because he’s been out of the ring for so long,” Santos said. “But sometimes, these are the positions that people put themselves in. He got himself in a hole, and he’s going to have to find a way to dig out of it. So he chose me to be the coach to help him dig out of the hole, and it’s a pretty damn deep hole, to say the least.”

Initially hesitant to take on the challenge of training Rosario, Santos was swayed after careful consideration and discussions with Rosario and his team. However, he made it clear that things would be done his way.

“I talked to him, I prayed on it, because it was something that I really didn’t want to do,” Santos explained. “But I told him, ‘If you come to me, we’ve got to do everything my way or it’s the highway.’ Unfortunately, this is going to have to be a dictatorship. You’ve tried things your way these last couple of fights, and it hasn’t worked.”

Rosario’s past struggles, including issues with alcohol, have been well-documented. Santos emphasized that a clean lifestyle is non-negotiable under his guidance.

“It’s no secret that he wasn’t living the cleanest lifestyle,” Santos said. “But with me, I don’t care how talented you are – we’ve got to give maximum effort and give our best. If we can’t do that, then what are we doing? I don’t want him to cheat himself, cheat me, or cheat the fans. They pay their hard-earned money to see a guy that’s going to bring it.”

Santos believes that middleweight is the right weight class for Rosario, who was a large 154-pounder in his younger days. As Rosario enters his prime years, Santos sees potential for success if the fighter can fully commit to the process.

As fight night approaches, the question remains: how much does Rosario have left in the tank? For Santos, the answer lies in whether Rosario can follow through on his commitments.

“We’ll see how he shows up on Wednesday night,” Santos said. “It’s a difficult task, but if he’s done everything right, he’s got a chance to turn things around.”

Lucas Ketelle is a proud member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and author of “Inside The Ropes of Boxing” (available on Amazon). Contact him on X @LukieBoxing.