By Kyle Kinder-
Just after midnight on January 13, 2020, in the center of the boxing ring inside the Hard Rock’s Etess Arena in Atlantic City, Jesse Hart (26-3, 21KO) stood shoulder to shoulder with referee Harvey Dock, awaiting the verdict of his ten round light heavyweight clash against Joe Smith Jr. Moments later, dinging from the ringside bell echoed through the arena and public address announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. read the judge’s scorecards: 97-92 Smith, 95-94 Hart, 98-91 Smith.
The split-decision loss capped what had been a frustrating night for Hart, who was hoping to build momentum after scoring a unanimous decision over Sullivan Barrera in his prior outing. But any immediate feelings of disappointment quickly gave way to concern.
In the leadup to the Smith match, during training camp, Hart injured his right hand. He thought he’d be able to fight through the pain, but in round two, after landing a short, awkwardly placed punch, Hart’s injury went from tolerable to severe. Reluctant and unable to let his right hand go for the final seven-plus rounds, Hart tried to rely on his legs to evade the bigger, plodding Smith. But it was to no avail. A post-fight medical evaluation revealed damaged ligaments and a torn tendon, injuries that Hart was told were potentially “career ending.”
“I had one hand, I had to use my legs, I had to use my other attributes and my athleticism came into play,” Hart said about the Smith fight. “When I have one hand, how am I going to stand in there and trade with a big puncher like Joe Smith, who is a bigger man than me?…People always say don’t make excuses, but that’s just the truth.” He added, “With one hand, he was just too strong and I couldn’t hold him off with one hand.”
Eager to put the Smith fight in his rearview and fix his right hand, Hart braced for a major operation that would put him out of commission for a few months. However, due to COVID-19, he wasn’t able to schedule his operation, which fell into the category of “elective surgery”, until June 5th, almost five months after his fight with Smith.
During various post-surgery doctor visits, Hart sought clearance to resume training, but was continually rebuffed. So for the last eight-plus months, heeding the advice of his doctors, Hart took it easy.
“I’ve been really trying to let my hand heal, spending time with my family, my son and my daughter, and just trying to regain focus,” said Hart. “It took major surgery and a long healing process, being patient, not wanting to punch….but I’m back to 100%, I feel a lot better.”
Once Hart was finally greenlit to lace up his gloves again, he decided it best to part ways with head trainer Fred Jenkins. Hart now hones his craft in North Philadelphia’s Philly 1 on 1 Boxing Gym, where he linked up with Boze Ennis, father of unbeaten welterweight phenom, Jaron “Boots” Ennis.
“I recently made that switch and I’m starting to get comfortable with Boze and we’re starting to work real good,” Hart said. He went on to state that while things didn’t necessarily get stale with Jenkins, Boze is “fresher.”
With a healed right hand and new trainer at the helm, Hart now has his sights set on a potential June 12 matchup in Las Vegas against ultra-hyped super middleweight KO artist, Edgar Berlanga (17-0, 16KO).
“I think he’s a good puncher and over time he’ll develop, but I don’t think much of him,” Hart said of Berlanga. “I don’t think he’s ready for a guy of my caliber. When Bob [Arum] said he wanted to do that, I literally jumped at that chance. This is definitely a big fight for me, I won’t lie. It’s definitely a big risk taking fight for me….I’m taking a gamble, but I know this kid can’t beat me and he won’t beat me in June.”
Hart’s only two losses at super middleweight have come in the form of razor-thin defeats in world title bouts against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez. Dropping back down to super middleweight from light heavyweight is a welcome change for Hart, who feels he does his best work at 168.
“I’m naturally a super middleweight….I talked to my mother and my mother said she thought I was too big. She was saying, ‘You’re light Jesse, why are you fighting these big guys?’ She wasn’t always involved in my career, but she was saying the guys at 175 were too big, and my dad was saying that too…but now that I’m back here I feel comfortable.”
As of a week ago, Hart and Berlanga now have a common opponent on their resume in Demond Nicholson. Nicholson was stopped by Hart in the seventh round of their 2018 contest, but went the distance in an eight round contest against Berlanga, becoming the only Berlanga opponent to make it out of round one in the process.
With regards to the Berlanga-Nicholson fight, Hart said, “Styles make fights. He didn’t stop Demond Nicholson, but he did knock him down (four times). I think Berlanga showed he had power, but I don’t think he showed smarts, I don’t think he showed skills, and I don’t think he showed athleticism. He was getting hit a lot.”
Ever the boxing historian, Hart thinks a potential Berlanga fight would play out like another Philadelphia vs. Puerto Rico battle: Bernard Hopkins v Felix Trinidad.
“You saw what happened with Bernard Hopkins and Tito Trinidad,” the presumed underdog Hart, said. “He didn’t care that the whole Garden was against him. He went in there and did his job and got Tito out of there. It’s going to play out like that. If this fight gets made, it will be a hell of a fight, but I got me stopping him in eight rounds. I got both of my hands, I’m living right, I’m healthy, there’s no way this thing goes eight rounds June 12.”
