By Geno McGahee
In a war, Jose Ramirez, 25-0, 17 KO’s, unified the WBC and WBO super lightweight titles, with a knockout of Maurice Hooker, 26-1-3, 17 KO’s, in the sixth round. The match was a back and forth war from jump with both men showing exactly what they wanted to employ in the ring.
In the first round, Hooker was down after his foot was stepped on, but it was called a knockdown. Hooker kept his distance at that point and landed the harder shots from the outside. Ramirez was able to trap Hooker on the ropes at times and land some good body shots. Despite the back and forth, Hooker seemed to be the one doing the most damage, especially with his body work and left hooks.
The corner of Ramirez insisted that their fighter not show respect to Hooker and he didn’t, landing a left hook in round six that rocked Hooker. He fell back into the ropes and a barrage of punches prompted the referee to stop the fight and leading to a unified super lightweight champion.
