Vergil Ortiz Jr (17-0, 17 KOs) forced Maurice Hooker (27-2-3, 18 KOs) into a dogfight and eventually stopped him in the seventh round in a two-knockdown performance at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
Ortiz dropped Hooker in rounds 6 and 7 to get the stoppage. Hooker went down to his knees after apparently hurting his right hand in the seventh round. The fight was then stopped.
Ortiz landed 143 of 392 shots for a 36 percent connect rate.
“He didn’t have to take this fight, but I give him props,” said Ortiz Jr. “I feel like I did pretty good. Overall, I think I did OK. He showed me he was durable.
“He can definitely take a punch. I knew what to do. I knew he was going to want to go inside. but I neutralized.
“The headshots weren’t hurting him at all. I knew he could take a punch. That’s when I started investing in the body. I’m ready for a title shot. I’m not going to call anyone a bum. I would love that opportunity. Crawford is pound for pound. If I’m given the opportunity. I’m looking at you, Bud,” said Ortiz.
“It was a good fight, I’ve been off for a year,” said Hooker. “I’ve been off for a year and a half. He’s a good fighter.
“He’s good, but he’s not ready, to be honest,” said Hooker saying that Ortiz isn’t ready for Crawford. “I hurt my hand. For everyone that’s booing, f*** y’all,” said Hooker.
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Preview:
Ortiz has been complaining a lot about the top fighters not wanting to face him.
He realizes that he’s lucky that Hooker stepped forward and agreed to fight him because if not for him, it’s likely that Vergil would have had to wait until he got a title shot before he fought a name guy.
Vergil, 22, has many questions that will need to be answered tonight when he takes on the 31-year-old Hooker, is two fights removed from his sixth-round knockout loss to Jose Ramirez in 2019.
A big win for the Golden Boy promoted Vergil Ortiz Jr will give the green light for him to be matched up against WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
Ortiz might be able to anger Crawford enough tonight to get a fight against him if he beats his stable-mate Hooker. Those two trains together, share the same trainer, and are good friends.
A knockout win for Vergil over Hooker may be the tipping point he needs to get Crawford to give him a fight in a voluntary defense.
Thus far, we’ve heard Ortiz assure the boxing public that he’s ready to take on Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), but the fact that Vergil has beaten a name fighter during his five-year career, it’s a mystery whether he’s ready for that step.
Undefeated Vergil Ortiz Jr and Maurice Hooker square off in a 12-round bout tonight live on DAZN from the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX. Welterweight Ortiz Jr (16-0, 16 KOs) and former WBO 140-pound champion Hooker (27-1-3, 18 KOs) be fighting to show who potentially be the next big name in the 147-lb division. The card starts at 9 pm ET.
