By Ian S Palmer
There’s a junior welterweight title unification fight in Arlington, Texas this Saturday, July 27th as Unbeaten WBO Champion Maurice Hooker of Dallas, Texas will be taking on WBC boss Jose Ramirez of Avenal, California. The 12 round bout can be seen live on DAZN in North America and on Sky Sports Action in the UK. Hooker was last in the ring in March when he beat Mikkel LesPierre by a unanimous decision in his second title defence. Ramirez saw action last in February when he edged Jose Zepeda by majority decision, It was also Ramirez’s second defence of his belt.
The 29-year-old Hooker won the title in June of 2018 when he beat former champion Terry Flanagan by a split decision. He then defended it against Alex Saucedo by seventh-round TKO before meeting LesPierre. Hooker climbs into the ring with a record of 23-0-3 along with 17 Kos. He’s not known as a big hitter, but has a current knockout ratio of 59 per cent and managed to stop Saucedo in devastating fashion after being dropped himself earlier in the fight. Hooker’s boxed 134 rounds since turning pro in 2011.
Before that, he was a Dallas regional Golden Gloves Champion and had a fine amateur record of 85-7. Since turning pro he’s drawn with Darleys Perez (10 rounds) and Abel Ramos (eight rounds) as well as Tyrone Chatman over four rounds in his pro debut. Hooker hasn’t really beaten anybody of note other than Flanagan and Saucedo, but also has wins over the likes of Santos Benavides, Tye Barnett and Cristobal Cruz. He’s also won the WBO NABO Super Lightweight Title as a pro and defended it four times.
Although Hooker has decent power and a good chin, he had gone the distance in his last four outings before stopping Saucedo. Hooker stands 5-feet-11-inches tall and has a reach of 80 inches. He’s got fine boxing skills and is somewhat underrated when it comes to both his power and his slick skills. He’s just hitting his prime and it’s pleasing to fans to see that he has no problem with putting his title on the line with another world champion.
The 26-year-old Ramirez won the vacant crown with a unanimous decision over Amir Imam in March, 2018 and defended it for the first time with a unanimous decision over Antonio Orozco before meeting Zepeda. Ramirez enters the contest with a perfect mark of 24-0 along with 16 Kos. He turned pro back in 2012 and has boxed 109 rounds since then. He stands 5-feet-10-inches tall and has a 72.5-inch reach. This means he gives up an inch in height to Hooker as well as 6.5 inches in reach.
Ramirez has quite a bit of pop in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 67 per cent and also possesses a pretty solid chin. He enjoyed a fine amateur career and represented the USA at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England where he went 1-1. Ramirez also faced Vasyl Lomachenko at the 2011 World Championships in Azerbaijan and was beaten 16-9 on points. Since turning pro he’s won the NABF Junior Welterweight Title as well as a couple of other regional belts as well as his world championship.
Ramirez hasn’t really faced any world class top contenders as of yet either with his biggest wins being over Orozco, Amir Imam, Mike Reed, Issouf Kinda, Johnny Garcia, Jake Giuriceo, Robert Frankel, Ryusei Yoshida and Tomas Mendez.
Prediction…
This is a good matchup for both boxers and as a bonus for fans it’s a world title unification tilt. Ramirez has slightly more power and a better chin while Hooker has the edge in boxing skills and a big 6.5-inch reach advantage. Ramirez needs to utilize his speed and relentless punching style to beat Hooker and even then he’s going to have a tough task in front of him. I can see this being a very close fight but Hooker’s reach may be able to keep Ramirez on the outside where he can do less damage. This is a tossup but I’m leaning towards Hooker.
