Julian Williams is one of only two opponents who have beaten Jarrett Hurd during Hurd’s 10-year professional career.

Hurd was a 6-1 favorite the night Williams dropped him in the second round and won their fan-friendly 12-round bout by unanimous decision in May 2019. Williams won the IBF, IBO and WBA 154-pound championships from Hurd at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia.

Hurd has wanted a rematch since that legacy-altering night nearly four years ago, but he doesn’t expect it to happen.

“I think there was a Showtime segment where J-Rock [Williams] came up and talked on television,” Hurd told BoxingScene.com. “He said he probably wouldn’t give me a rematch, so I’m not really expecting a rematch with J-Rock. If it happen, it happen.”

Hurd (24-2, 16 KOs), of Accokeek, Maryland, is fully focused this week on his return from almost a 21-month layoff. The former junior middleweight champion will meet Mexico’s Armando Resendiz (13-1, 9 KOs) in a 10-round, 162-pound bout on the Brandon Figueroa-Mark Magsayo undercard at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

The 32-year-old Hurd hasn’t fought since he suffered his second professional defeat – a 10-round split decision to Luis Arias in June 2021 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Hurd was an approximate 8-1 favorite to win versus Arias (20-3-1, 9 KOs), who got up from a ninth-round knockdown and won on two scorecards (97-93, 96-93, 94-95).

Whereas Hurd needs to look impressive versus Resendiz to re-establish himself as a middleweight contender, Philadelphia’s Williams (28-3-1, 16 KOs, 1 NC) has secured a shot at WBC interim middleweight champ Carlos Adames (22-1, 17 KOs). Willliams and Adames are scheduled to meet June 24 in a “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event at The Armory in Minneapolis.

“That’s gonna be a tough fight for J-Rock,” Hurd said. “To be honest with you man, I’m not one to talk, but J-Rock hasn’t been looking the same since ever since he beat me. Unless something changed, I don’t see him coming out victorious that night. I know Adames is on the way up. He’s been looking good each and every fight, so I’m gonna give the victory to Adames.”

Showtime will also air the 12-round WBC interim featherweight title bout between Figueroa (23-1-1, 18 KOs), of Weslaco, Texas, and the Philippines’ Magsayo (24-1, 16 KOs) and the Hurd-Resendiz fight as part of a tripleheader set to start at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday. Elijah Garcia (13-0, 11 KOs), a 19-year-old southpaw from Wittmann, Arizona, will square off against Uraguay’s Amilcar Vidal (16-0, 12 KOs) in a 10-round middleweight match that’ll open the three-bout broadcast.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.