Better opponent, same result.
Welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr. received unfamiliar resistance from Maurice Hooker for a while but ultimately did what he has done in all his professional fights, stopping the former 140-pound titleholder in the seventh round Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Ortiz has now stopped each of his 17 opponents. More important, he enhanced his credentials as a legitimate threat to any 147-pounder.
“This gives me more confidence,” Ortiz said. “I believe that I’m more ready for a title shot. Just whoever is willing to give me the opportunity.”
It looked at times early in the fight as if Hooker (27-2-3, 18 KOs) might have what it takes to derail his fellow Texan’s plans.
He continually poked Ortiz with his long jab, landed some eye-catching power shots and showed a surprisingly strong chin given Ortiz’s power. The problem for Hooker is that Ortiz, relentless as ever, gradually wore him down.
Early in the fight, Ortiz focused on Hooker’s head and landed some big shots. However, they didn’t have the effect on Hooker that they’ve had on other opponents. What did Ortiz do? Shifted his focus to the body, which ultimately broke his opponent.
Ortiz acknowledged afterward that he thought Hooker might become the first to go the distance with him.
“To be honest, the head shots weren’t hurting him at all,” Ortiz said. “He could take a punch, I’m not going to lie. I wasn’t hurting him to the head, so that’s when I started investing in the body.”
The investment paid dividends quickly.
The body punches began to take a toll in Round 5, as Hooker started to slow down. In Round 6, Ortiz punctuated a flurry of punches with a left uppercut and straight right that put Hooker down with about 30 seconds to go in the round.
Then came the ending. Ortiz, in full attack mode, landed a barrage of shots that suddenly forced his beaten opponent to take a knee and give up. The official time was 36 seconds of Round 7.
Hooker indicated immediately that he had a hand injury, which evidently prevented him from continuing. He later said he felt something pop. Most observers would say that the beating he took from Ortiz also played a role in his demise.
Ortiz was leading on all three cards at the time of the stoppage: 60-53, 59-54 and 58-55. Boxing Junkie had it 59-54 for the winner.
The question now for Ortiz: Who’s next?
He generally won’t call out prospective opponents. However, two of them were at ringside: titleholders Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford. Spence is out. He’s expected to face Yordenis Ugas. Crawford has no scheduled opponent, which means anything is possible, but there have been no serious talks between Ortiz and him.
Ortiz was asked after the fight about the possibility of facing Crawford.
“I would love that opportunity,” he said. “… Crawford is possibly the No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world, definitely in the top two. If they give me that opportunity …”
Then Ortiz caught the eye of Crawford in the crowd.
“I’m looking at you, Bud, I’m looking at you,” he continued. “If you want to make this fight, I’m more than willing to do it.”
Ortiz had just recorded the biggest victory of his career against a former champion. However, he’s only 22 years old and has had only 17 bouts. Is he ready for a fighter of Crawford’s caliber?
“I don’t care if I’m ready or not,” he said, “I want that fight.”
In a preliminary bout, Seneisa Estrada (20-0, 8 KOs) defeated Anabel Ortiz (31-4, 4 KOs) by a one-sided unanimous decision to take Ortiz’s WBA strawweight title.
