By Keith Idec

Jarrett Hurd had a lot of difficulty dealing with Julian Williams on Saturday night.

Williams worked well when they fought inside, dropped Hurd with a left hook in the second round and utilized diversity in his game that prohibited Hurd from retaining his IBF, IBO and WBA 154-pound titles.

The former champion admitted he didn’t do nearly enough to win their 12-round championship match at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia.

Hurd still wants to run it back as soon as possible.

“Yeah, definitely an immediate rematch,” Hurd told Cory Lee Boxing in a post-fight interview posted on YouTube. “I’m gonna take some time off, but definitely gotta get those back. You know what I’m saying?”

The 28-year-old Hurd (23-1, 16 KOs), of nearby Accokeek, Maryland, anticipated beating Williams in his homecoming fight. Hurd figured he’d then pursue another title unification fight against the winner of the rematch between WBC champ Tony Harrison (28-2, 21 KOs) and former champ Jermell Charlo (31-1, 15 KOs) on June 23 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

“I’m just disappointed, man,” Hurd said. “The homecoming was perfect. I just wish I came out with a victory. And I’ll be back.”

The bigger, supposedly stronger Hurd acknowledged Williams surprised him with his ability to out-work him when they fought from close distances.

“We knew he was gonna be great on the inside, but he was a little better than I expected,” Hurd said. “I think I was trying too hard to land my shots, instead of just letting my hands go. But, you know, other than that, he was just a better man tonight.”

Two judges – Robin Taylor (115-112) and Steve Weisfeld (115-112) – scored seven rounds for Philadelphia’s Williams (27-1-1, 16 KOs, 1 NC). The other judge, Alfredo Polanco, credited Williams with winning eight rounds (116-111).

Williams landed 24 more punches overall than Hurd, according to CompuBox’s unofficial statistics (273-of-687 to 249-of-800). CompuBox counted more power punches for Williams (232-of-543 to 223-of-639) and more jabs for the new champion (41-of-144 to 26-of-161).

“We’re just gonna go back to the gym,” Hurd said, “watch what we need to work on and, you know, pick it up from there. … I’ll be back.”

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