By Lem Satterfield

Jarrett Hurd confirmed Friday morning that he’ll defend his IBF, IBO and WBA 154-pound crowns against England’s Jason Welborn on the December 1 undercard of Deontay Wilder’s heavyweight title defense against Tyson Fury at The Staples Center in Los Angeles.

As BoxingScene.com previously reported, Hurd verified he’ll battle Welborn with this post on his Facebook page: “Swift” Jarrett Hurd (22-0, 15 KOs) defends his IBF, WBA & IBO junior middleweight on #WilderFury undercard against BBBofC British Middleweight Champion Jason Welborn (24-6, 7KOs) On December 1, live from Staples Center on @showtimeboxing PPV.  #HurdWelborn #SwiftNation.

The 28-year-old Hurd, of Accokeek, Maryland, unified the titles with a split-decision win over southpaw Erislandy Lara (25-3-2, 14 KOs) on April 7 in Las Vegas, scoring a knockdown in the final round. Hurd had stopped seven straight opponents entering his clash with Lara, who represented the second defense of the IBF title won by ninth-round TKO over Tony Harrison in February 2017.

Hurd made his first title defense against left-handed former champion Austin Trout, whom he defeated by 10th-round TKO in October 2017. Trout was stopped for the first time in his career versus Hurd.

Welborn, 32, has vacated the British middleweight title he was due to defend against Mark Heffron (21-0, 17KOs) on the Carl Frampton-Josh Warrington undercard December 22 undercard in Manchester, England.

Welborn is coming off a pair of split-decision victories over Tommy Langford in May and September. He has won five consecutive fights since losing back-to-back decisions to William Warburton and Craig Cunningham in May 2016 and July 2016.

Hurd had arthroscopic surgery in June to repair a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder. That’s the arm Hurd used to throw the hybrid hook-uppercut that dropped Lara with 37 seconds left in their fight.

Hurd said he required six weeks of physical therapy and rehabilitation following the 30-minute operation he had at Howard University Hospital in Washington D.C. His shoulder began bothering him in February, but he went ahead with his training camp and his fight with Lara.