KO artist Vergil Ortiz faces his toughest test in Maurice Hooker on saturday in fort worth, texas.
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VERGIL ORTIZ JR. (16-0, 16 KOs)
VS. MAURICE HOOKER (27-1-3, 18 KOs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UDtMBzCwsE
- Date: Saturday, March 20
- Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Fort Worth, Texas
- Stream / TV: DAZN
- Cost: DAZN: $19.99 per month or $99 annually
- Division: Welterweights (147 pounds)
- At stake: No titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: Ortiz 8-1 favorite
- Also on the card: Anabel Ortiz vs. Seniesa Estrada, strawweights (for Ortiz’s WBA title); Luis Hernandez vs. Alex Martin, junior welterweights
- Prediction: Ortiz UD
- Background: Oritz, a 22-year-old contender, is developing into a legitimate challenger for the biggest names in a deep division. The gifted, bruising Dallas fighter has stopped all 16 of his opponents, including a seventh-round stoppage of Sammy Vargas last July. He has faced good fighters – Antonio Orozco, Brad Solomon, Vargas – but Hooker represents a step up in opposition. The 31-year-old, also from Dallas, lost his 140-pound to Jose Ramirez by a sixth-round knockout in July 2019 but rebounded to stop Uriel Perez in one round five months later in his first welterweight fight. He hasn’t fought since then. Hooker is a capable boxer with decent power. He has victories over Terry Flanagan (to win his title), Alex Saucedo and Mikkel LesPierre.
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