On Saturday, July 27, 2019, The College Park Center located in Arlington, Texas, played host to hometown favorite and WBO champion Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker (26-1-3 17 KOs) as he took on his toughest test to date in WBC champion Jose Ramirez (25-0, 17 KOs) of Fresno, California.
The matchup pitted two of the best Junior Welterweights in the world against one another in a truly pick-em bout.
Before stepping inside the ring, both fighters had made successfull defenses of their respective titles leading up to their inevitable collision course.
While Ramirez has certainly established himself as a draw in his native city of Fresno, he found himself stepping into the backyard of Hooker this time around. Hooker, who’s recently been a road warrior, traveling and fighting in his opponents hometowns, finally would get a chance to make a defense in front of his hometown crowd.
While the roars from the crowd favored Hooker, the Ramirez fan base certainly made their presence felt ringside.
The first round started with early drama, as an early exchange between the two saw Ramirez step on the foot of Hooker while punching and effectively caused Hooker to hit the canvas. With the benefit of a quick replay, it was easy to see that it shouldn’t have been ruled a knockdown, but without that resource, the referee ruled it a knockdown despite Hookers claims that his foot was caught under Ramirez’s.
Ramirez followed that round with a solid second round and pressed the action on Mighty Mo. Hooker would find his rhythm better in the third round although he still found himself on the ropes, taking strong shots from Ramirez.
The following rounds were all-out action from both men and neither fighter knew how to retreat. For every combination that Ramirez landed, Hooker would find ways to counter and find his mark.
Just as the chants and screams from the crowd began to crescendo midway through the sixth, a roar erupted from the crowd as Ramirez rocked Hooker and his legs wobbled.
Ramirez pounced on the wounded Hooker as he smelled blood and went in for the stoppage. A barrage of punches landed on the dome of Hooker, who was visibly hurt and shaken up.
The referee watched on as Ramirez’s combination continued to add up to almost 10 flush and unanswered blows until finally stopping the fight and awarding the TKO to the new unified champion, Jose Ramirez.
“I lost focus for a quick second,” said Hooker after his first defeat. “I lost it for a split second and you see what happens when you lose focus even for a second against a top guy like Ramirez.”
The new unified champion basked in his glory next to an excited Bob Arum who was there at center ring to congratulate his fighter.
“I felt confidend in there,” said Ramirez. “A world champion always has to be confident in there and I just listened to my corner and my team.”
In just a few months, Regis Prograis will see himself across the ring from Josh Talylor and Ramirez already has his eyes set on that potential bout.
“I’ve always wanted to fight the best fighters and that’s what I’m going to continue to do,” said Ramirez. “Of course I want the winner of that next.”
