DALLAS — After Terence Crawford unified the four major junior welterweight world titles in 2017, the first time that had been done in the four-belt era, he vacated them and moved up in weight to welterweight, leaving the 140-pound division wide open.
Nearly two years later, the division is close to sorting itself out again with a clear No. 1 fighter at the top.
Maurice Hooker and Jose Ramirez will meet to unify their two belts on Saturday (DAZN, 9 p.m. ET) at the College Park Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington. It’s a hometown defense for Hooker, who grew up in nearby Oak Cliff. The winner will face either Regis Prograis or Josh Taylor, who are due to unify their two belts in the final of the World Boxing Super Series later this fall. All four fighters have shown interest in unification, and no political issues will prevent such a showdown.
Hooker and Ramirez, who met years ago and took a photo together at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California, take center stage first in a high-class match that most consider a toss-up.
“This is the fight of my dreams — to unify, to win another title and have two titles in one weight class. And it’s here. It’s big,” Hooker said. “I’m pumped up about this fight and happy to have it at home.”
Ramirez and Hooker might differ on how they see the fight going, but they agree this is a big contest.
“I wanted to become a champion, but more than that, to unify titles,” said Ramirez, a 2012 U.S. Olympian. “Those are goals fighters put in front of themselves. You want to be part of the biggest fights in the world, fights that we can speak about to our kids for many generations to come. This is something that was a goal of mine, something that I dreamed of, to be in this position and I’m very blessed to have this opportunity.”
Ramirez manager Rick Mirigian has been predicting his man will win by sixth-round knockout. Hooker trainer Vince Parra is calling for “Mighty Mo” to win by ninth-round knockout. But it’s really a fight that if you asked 10 people to predict, you might get 10 different scenarios.
This is your Ringside Seat to the fight:
Road warriors
Hooker (26-0-3, 17 KOs), 29, who like Ramirez will be making his third title defense, has gained a reputation as a road warrior. He won a vacant belt by traveling to former lightweight world titlist Terry Flanagan’s hometown of Manchester, England, 13 months ago and handed him his first defeat by split decision.
For his first defense in November, Hooker traveled to mandatory challenger Alex Saucedo’s hometown of Oklahoma City, where he survived a knockdown and then knocked out Saucedo in the seventh round. In March, he faced New Yorker Mikkel LesPierre in upstate New York and won by near-shutout decision.
Hooker is happy to be home.
“I’m so excited to have this fight in Dallas. I’m ready to come with everything I have,” Hooker said. “The crazy thing about it is that I don’t feel any pressure coming into the fight. It’s just another big fight. All my fights over the last three have been really big, so I don’t feel any pressure from fighting at home. I’m just ready to do what I do and handle my business.”
While Hooker comes home, Ramirez, 26, of Avenal, California, is hitting the road after fighting most of his fights in the shadow of his hometown in Fresno. His first two title defenses, decisions against Antonio Orozco and Jose Zepeda, were both in Fresno.
Ramirez said he had no issues agreeing to fight in Hooker’s backyard.
“Going to his hometown, there’s a lot of Hispanics in Arlington, Texas,” said Ramirez, figuring he will have some of the crowd on his side. “Maurice wanted the fight in his hometown, so it was up to me to accept those terms and I did. Sometimes the fights on the road are easier because I don’t have the same responsibilities when I am fighting in Fresno. [When] I am co-promoting the fights with Top Rank, I have to do a lot of appearances, but now I am the guest so I am here to do my job.”
Promoters working together
Major fights are never easy to make, but those difficulties are compounded when fighters are aligned with different broadcast outlets.
But Hooker-Ramirez, to the surprise of many, came together rather easily even though Ramirez is promoted by Top Rank and fights on ESPN, where Top Rank has a long-term deal, and Hooker is co-promoted by Matchroom Boxing, which has a long-term deal with DAZN.
Both sides wanted the fight and the talks were by all accounts very cordial. Of course, the biggest incentive was that the Hearn/Hooker side agreed to pay the Top Rank/Ramirez side more than $4 million.
“It’s what boxing needs,” co-promoter Dino Duva said. “You have Jose Ramirez with Top Rank, one of their stars on ESPN. They were willing to make the deal with Eddie [Hearn] and DAZN because they wanted to make the best fight, and everybody deserves congratulations on it. This is what the fans need. This is what boxing needs.”
Ramirez very much wanted a unification fight, particularly with Prograis and Taylor committed to the tournament through the rest of the year. He was quite pleased his team was able to work out the fight with Hooker.
Top Rank vice president Todd duBoef said it was the right time to make the fight.
“[It was] a fight that Ramirez wanted, so everybody was a gentleman and polite and mature and we were able to facilitate a terrific unification match,” he said. “It was all done collaboratively. We wanted to accommodate Ramirez and the fight fans the best we could.”
Breaking down the battle
Most expect the fight to provide action, and Ramirez is one of them.
“Champion versus champion brings so much to the table,” Ramirez said. “There’s so much pride here. I believe this is a big fight and it’s a big motivation for me.
“I’ve studied his fights. He’s a great champion. He’s here for a reason. He uses his range properly. Throws his right hands. He’s not afraid to come forward. He’s a very capable fighter.”
Ramirez, generously listed at 5-foot-10, is the shorter man compared to the 5-11 Hooker, who also has a longer reach and is good fighting from long range. Ramirez said that’s not an issue.
“Through my career, especially in the amateurs, I boxed a lot of guys who were taller than I was,” he said. “That experience will help me with a fighter who is long. And if he comes forward to fight, it’s definitely going to be a clash in there.”
While Ramirez’s best punch is his left hook, Hooker relies heavily on his right hand and does not expect that to change against Ramirez.
“I feel like in the beginning we’re going to have trade to get each other’s respect because I’m not going to respect him and he’s not going to respect me,” Hooker said. “I’m not backing down. If we got to trade, we got to trade.
“He’s got a good left hand, good left hook, hook to the body. He uses his left hand pretty good. I know Jose is a good fighter and he’s coming to fight. He’s got a good coach, but I’m really prepared. I’m ready to go one round, I’m ready to go two rounds. I’m ready to go 12 if I have to, but the way Jose fights, I think it will end early because he’ll run into my right hand.”
Rafael’s prediction: This is the first time I’m doing this in a Ringside Seat. I’m calling a draw.