Vergil Ortiz Jr. Passes Another Big Test; Stops Maurice Hooker in the 7th Round
Hard-hitting undefeated Welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr. wins fierce Lone Star State battle with 17th straight knockout, stopping Dallas’ Maurice Hooker in the seventh round at Dickies Arena on DAZN
FORT WORTH, Texas (March 20, 2021) — With Texas being one of the first states to open up live sporting events to fans, Golden Boy Promotions set up a major assignment for one of its most promising fighters. Undefeated 22-year old Vergil Ortiz Jr. stepped in against former WBO Super Lightweight champion Maurice Taylor – both grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
With a victory over Hooker, Golden Boy could, conceivably, move forward with full confidence to pit their young charge against either unified Welterweight champion Errol Spence or WBO champion Terence Crawford. Spence also hails from the Dallas area, but the latter is the name mentioned most recently regarding Ortiz’ first title shot.
Not to jump ahead, Ortiz and Hooker had to first take care of business in their 12-round main event which streamed live on DAZN from Dickies Arena. The fight marked the 5-foot 11-inch Hooker’s debut fight at the 147-pound max, and his second fight in camp with Crawford’s trainer Brian “Bomac” McIntyre.
Ortiz’ perfect record of 16-0 with 16 knockouts suggested why the 22-year old was ready for the challenge. Hooker (27-2-3, 18 KOs) came into the bout, embracing a chance to redeem himself.
By the end of the night, Hooker proved his durability and tested Ortiz in ways we had yet to see. Unfortunately, the former champion lost the fight in part to an apparent lower arm injury sustained in the seventh round. Both fighters landed their share of powerful shots. Ortiz’ face displayed the effectiveness of Hooker’s punching, but the younger fighter displayed the grit to overcome the punishment to accomplish the mission.
After the fight, Hooker acknowledged the punishment he was taking at the same time he injured his hand. He added that Ortiz needed to get better before facing his stablemate Crawford, but praised the younger fighter for being both good and the better man.
Hooker’s jab appeared early. Ortiz’ pressure and wide-arcing hooks around the former champion’s guard sped things up quickly in the first round. Ortiz closed the distance several times. Hooker tried to take small steps back and extend his range-finder jab. Hooker landed his best punch of the round, a left hook to the body, just before the end of the first frame.
Hooker opened the second round jabbing. Ortiz landed a left hook to the body early. he rocked side-to-side before stepping forward to punch. The younger fighter threw the harder punches. Hooker worked his jab the last minute or so, but a late powerful outburst by Ortiz might’ve secured him the round.
The pace through the first half of the third round was more to Hooker’s liking. But, Ortiz erupted with another flurry of powerful punches. Hooker landed a left hook at the end of a combination that was mostly defended. The left eye of Ortiz was reddened by the end of the round. Both fighters had good moments, Hooker closed the round with a left before both fighters exchanged some words.
Ortiz picked up the pace early in the fourth round. He scored well with his jab. Hooker boxed and moved, and appeared to settle into a comfortable rhythm. He stepped forward to assert his offense. Ortiz turned and slipped punches over the final moments of the round – Hooker’s best.
Just 30 seconds into the subsequent round and both fighters exchanged freely. Both landed clean punches. Ortiz rallied around the 1:30 mark after landing a solid body shot. He tried to rake the taller Hooker’s guard down to land punches to the head. Hooker gradually accepted Ortiz’ invitation to brawl. He finished the round with the worse body language of the two.
Ortiz focused on Hooker’s slender body in the first moments of the sixth round. During the break he complained about not being able to breathe during Ortiz’ big rally to close the previous round. Hooker’s elbows were tight against his body. Ortiz landed a few power jabs before a booming left hook underneath. Moments later Hooker went down as Ortiz stood over him throwing a couple of punches. Hooker beat the count of referee Laurence Cole. Ortiz moved in to attempt to finish but Hooker slipped to his left during a flurry and made it to the bell.
Hooker was down early in the next round, the result of another vicious body attack. Ortiz forced the issue. Hooker took a big right hand to the side of his face, and suddenly Hooker turned away appearing to have an injury to his right elbow. The time was :36 in the round, and the official result was a technical knockout.
Ortiz won a thrilling fight, beat up a former world champion and improved to 17-0 while also picking up the vacant WBO International Welterweight title.
Anabel Ortiz (31-4, 4 KOs) attempted to defend her WBA Minimum Weight title versus Seneisa Estrada (20-0, 8 KOs) in the event’s co-main event. Mexico’s Ortiz, 34, hadn’t lost a bout in nine years. Estrada forced the issue in the second frame after the two boxed their way through the opening round.
Estrada timed a thudding right hand that dropped the champion with about 20 seconds to go in the second round. Ortiz made it to her feet to finish the round.
Into the third round, Estrada continued to move in and out looking to land powerful punches. The 28-year old from East Los Angeles mixed her attack up with both upper body and foot feints, as well as switches to orthodox and southpaw. The champion waited back looking for opportunities to counter the aggressive young fighter.
The action remained hard fought and back-and-forth to close out the bout’s first half. The champion had swelling under both eyes by the sixth round. She couldn’t match the younger fighter’s power, and she developed a large swelling at the left side of her hairline.
Estrada pressed forward to open the seventh round. She marched forward, comfortably lacing the champion with punches from both hands. With the fight quickly slipping away, Ortiz tried to mount a response.
Ortiz appeared to need a knockout to retain her title going into the last few rounds. Estrada continued to pepper her with shots from outside. The champion’s pop sounded like it was totally gone at the close of the ninth round. Estrada’s confidence continued to grow.
The two battled it out through the 10th round, but the referee mistakenly interrupted a final ferocious attack by Estrada, appearing to confuse the 10-second warning for the final bell. The interruption broke up a flurry with the champion fighting her way off of the ropes. Estrada turned around to re-engage but ran out of time to do anything super climatic.
Two of the judges submitted scorecards of 100-89, and third was 99-90 in favor of the new world champion. Estrada and Ortiz walked around the ring with the Mexican graciously raising the hand of the new first-time champion. The loss snapped a streak of 12 title defenses by Ortiz.
Tristan Kalkreuth (8-0, 6 KOs) vs Dustin Long (4-2-2, KOs)
Undefeated 19-year old Cruiserweight Tristan Kalkreuth was scheduled for a 6-round bout with Dustin Long. After the first 60 seconds of the first round, Kalkreuth unloaded a punishing flurry of punches while the 38-year old combat sports veteran attempted to cover up and survive.
An early right hook affected Long greatly. Following that, the 6-foot 4-inch fired a series of powerful straight right hands and right uppercuts at Long’s head. A pair of left hooks to the body and the head sent Long down to the canvas where he remained for several minutes after the fight officially ended at 1:18.
With the devastating win, Kalkreuth – a resident of Duncanville, Texas – improved to 8-0 with his sixth win via stoppage.
