ARLINGTON, Texas — Junior welterweight world titlist Jose Ramirez dreamed of winning a world title as a youngster but said even beyond that his goal was to unify belts.
Ramirez realized his dream and did so in explosive fashion in an action-packed fight as he stopped Maurice Hooker in the sixth round with an onslaught of heavy punches to unify two 140-pound world titles on Saturday night at the College Park Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington.
Ramirez, who like Hooker was making his third defense, typically fights in Fresno, California, outside of his hometown of Avenal, California, but he came on the road to Hooker’s home area and showed him who was boss in a tremendous performance.
That the fight was even made came as a surprise to many because of the rarity of fighters aligned with different broadcasters meeting for such high stakes But the fight was made fairly quickly and easily as Ramirez promoter Top Rank, which has a long-term deal with ESPN, brought him to fight on a card put on by Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, who has a deal with DAZN, because both fighters very much wanted the bout and because the Hearn/DAZN camp put up more than $4 million to make it happen.
The result was a very exciting fight that had the fans cheering throughout.
They opened with a fast past and a left to the body from Ramirez knocked Hooker into the ropes in the opening seconds of the fight. Later in the round, referee Mark Nelson ruled a knockdown even though Ramirez clearly stepped on Hooker’s foot, causing him to go to the canvas. Hooker was upset but responded with some solid shots in what amounted to a battle of his right hand against Ramirez’s powerful left hand.
Ramirez forced Hooker to the ropes in the second round and landed several hard shots. Hooker needed to fight at longer range but could not get off the ropes as Ramirez banged away to the head and body. He finished the round by whacking Hooker with a clean right hand to the jaw.
There was wild action in the third round as they battled back and forth and were engaged in a heated exchange as the bell rang, forcing Nelson to jump between them. He almost got hit as he separated them as the crowd mostly drowned out the sound of the bell.
Ramirez (25-0, 17 KOs), 26, bloodied Hooker’s nose in the fourth round, another one where they stood in the center of the ring for long stretches and exchanged.
They were chest to chest in the hellacious fifth round and Ramirez hammered Hooker to the body when they were in close. Left hook after left hook after left hook with an uppercut mixed in. When they separated it was Hooker who landed hard shots upstairs and downstairs.
The end came in the sixth round in explosive fashion, seemingly out of nowhere as Ramirez caught Hooker with a brutal left hook that rocked him badly and sent him into the ropes. Ramirez followed by landing nine more unanswered blows, including left hooks and right hands clean on the chin that had him out on his feet as Nelson jumped in to stop it at 1 minute, 48 seconds.
Hooker (26-1-3, 17 KOs), 29, of Dallas, had been a road warrior but was finally getting a chance to defend his title at home after winning a vacant belt on the road and making two defenses on hostile turf. But the homecoming did not end how he envisioned it.
Ramirez now has half of the major belts in the weight class and could be in line to fight for the undisputed title in the first half of 2020. Regis Prograis and Josh Taylor are due to meet to unify the other two major belts in the final of the World Boxing Super Series tournament, on Oct. 6 at a site to be determined in the United Kingdom.
Prograis and Taylor both said they were interested in fighting Saturday night’s winner and Ramirez reiterated his desire to unify the division.
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