By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside
Photos: Sumio Yamada
In a battle of unbeaten 140lb champions, WBC champ Jose Ramirez proved he was up for the Texas-size challenge and knocked out the WBO titleholder “Mighty Mo” Maurice Hooker in the sixth round in his hometown of Dallas at the College Event Center at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Ramirez came out from the opening bell and took the fight to Hooker, who tried to keep the aggressive Ramirez at bay with his 80 inch reach. Ramirez landed a glancing shot as Hooker was going backwards off-balance, but appeared to step on Hooker’s foot causing Hooker to hit the canvas. Hooker got up instantly and protested the call to referee Mark Nelson but to no avail.
In the 2nd round, Hooker went back to the jab and landed a big left hook, but soon Ramirez had him against the ropes where he had a field day to the body and head of Hooker. Hooker tried to counter with short shots as Ramirez would go upstairs and back downstairs on the slender Hooker. By the 3rd round, Hooker was boxing better and landed a big overhand right, but Ramirez kept coming. Both guys were slugging it out as the bell ended with referee Mark Nelson wrapped around Hooker.
The loud, local crowd tried to rally Hooker with chants of “Mighty Mo” to open the 4th round. Hooker and Ramirez started dropping bombs on each other and a big uppercut by Ramirez at end of the round, but was quickly countered by Hooker. Once again in the 5th round, Ramirez mixed up the attack to the body and head, as Hooker again tried to fight off the ropes. Ramirez threw an uppercut occasionally for good measure. Hooker tried to come back and chop down Ramirez and had success with a couple of big left hooks, but could not land the telling blow.
In the 6th and what turned out to be the final round, Ramirez landed a massive left hook that did the initial blow to hurt Hooker and once against the ropes, Ramirez unleashed a flurry of six or seven punches that viciously snapped Hooker’s head back multiple times before the referee could run in to save Hooker from any more damage. The time of the TKO was 1:48 of the 6th round. Ramirez leaves Texas with Hooker’s WBO belt to go along with his WBC greenbelt in the title unification.
This fight was billed as “All or Nothing” and a 50/50 fight on paper by many experts and was called a potential fight of the year candidate and it definitely lived up to all the pre-fight hype. Both guys showed tremendous heart and landed some big shots, but in the end, Ramirez had too many weapons and became the unified champ in what was a Texas shootout.
Afterward, Ramirez shared his thoughts on the fight.
“I felt confidence in my skills. I believed in my team, I’m the unified champion of the world. I am very blessed.”
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Thank God for Mark Nelson. That was almost tragedy #4 in the last few days.
He fudged up the first round knock down call and stepped in 2-4 seconds too late!
Yes, Juan. I agree. That knockdown was bullshit. However, Jose could have killed Maurice in the ring tonight. We just had 2 tragedies in the ring. We do not need a 3rd.
I was rooting for Ramirez. He looked great tonight.
Great fight! This is what boxing fans want to see, two undefeated champions going toe to toe!
ONE suggestion for DAZN, get rid of Sergio Mora as analyst ad commentator, the dude sucks and can’t be subjective, he’s a company man in every way.
Juan, I understand your statement, but, Sergio adds a unique perspective to the fights. However, he can be biased at times.
Jonathan and Juan Valdez, funny you say that I think his translating is horrible.
Completely disagree. Mora is great analyst and I am glad he is there because Brian Kinney goes off the deep end a lot.
They BOTH go off the deep end, both tend to be biased in their commentary in favor of DAZN based fighters but Ive got to give credit to Hearn for making great fights unlike every other current fight promoter!
He has more credentials than the other 2 white dudes iam glad they have an actual fighter that was inside the ring and knows what is like to be in there. He calls the fight as it is.
Maurice, so you were going to wear Ramirez round by round right? You better learn to keep your mouth shut before the fight, if you want to open it afterwards, that’s fine.
Jorge, let’s not be so harsh. Maurice did a got job, until he got KTFO.
Good stoppage. Good fight. This is what boxing needs. Lifted the status of both guys
Wow what a fight, reminded me of the classic 80’s welterweight fights. Duran is reborn today!
Fantastic fight! Hooker seemed to have more power and landed some helacious body shots. However, Ramirez would not be discouraged and kept the pressure up cornering Hooker often and letting his hands go. The left hook to Hooker’s jaw was unexpected but he took full advantage of it and didn’t let him off the hook. Great fight and the stoppage was appropriate. Hooker was helpless against the ropes and the ref recognized it right away. It was a dangerous fight for Ramirez but he came through with flying colors.
My favorite 140 lb fighter is still Regis Prograis. However, Jose Ramirez is a close second. I know Prograis still has to get past Josh Taylor, but it is not inconceivable that a Ramirez-Prograis fight could be put together in the next year or so. I’d love to see that matchup sooner rather than later.
Why do boxing fans go weeks without a fight and then suddenly Showtime has a fight on and DAZN has a fight on the same time? I got my TV on Showtime and laptop on DAZN watching 2 fights? For the good of the spirit and the fan can we coordinate schedules, this happens all the time.
DAZN is the best! They have given us 2 fight of the year candidates in a span of 2 months, and many good fights. It’s been a long time that we have seen 2 champs in their prime and undefeated go to battle like this. And to see the respect between the both of them, these kind of fights is what I love about boxing.