Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Prediction against Maurice Hooker, card, start time, live stream, how to watch

At just 22 years old, with as many other playoffs as he had in professional wrestling, Vergil Ortiz Jr. the seemingly inescapable look seemed to be the next main thing in the weight welterweight division.

Ortiz (16-0, 16 KOs) will enter Saturday to prove himself with a chance to take a giant step when he climbs into the class with his former 140-pound title and fellow Maurice Hooker Dallas (27-1-3 18 KOs) at Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas (DAZN, 9 p.m. ET).

“This fight is going to be tough and the hardest part of my career,” Ortiz told Morning Kombat in February. “Maurice has been a world champion before. He is in his time and he is in his hands. It will be a great fight and I really can’t wait.

“I want to prove to everyone what I have. I’ve been training all my life. I feel like I’m ready to win a world title and I feel like I should have already achieved it. I went 16-0 in the 16 playoffs and literally did my best in those 16 fights. I fought. if they give me a world title after this, I will be happy. “

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Hooker, 31, had his only defeat in 2019’s exciting junior welterweight bout against Jose Ramirez, as both fighters exchanged damage as Hooker eventually interrupted the defeat in a year-long contestant’s defeat.

Hooker suffered four consecutive defeats. Hooker gave his first defeat to names like Courtney Jackson, Terry Flanagan, Alex Saucedo and Mikkel LesPierre. He will do the same against Ortiz, as Hooker bears a resemblance to Ramirez given that he shares the same coach as Robert Garcia and a comparable direct attack.

“I think so [the fight] it’s going to be a little bit of everything, “Ortiz said.”[Hooker] will try to move, for sure. Obviously, Jose and I have the same coach and we have similar styles, so he doesn’t want to go in there and play a sudden blow. Maybe he’ll try to move on and see if it takes me a little longer. But I can also box and I’m not just an inside fighter. I think once I see that I can work with that advantage, maybe he will try to throw it at me.

“Long story short, I can do a lot of things.”

Ortiz has overcome two previous big challenges in the last two years, creating impressive knockouts of Mauricio Herrera, Antonio Orozco, Brad Solomon and Samuel Vargas.

The intense pace at which Ortiz has grown up with his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Hall of Fame, publicly declared last month that Ortiz would defeat all the welterweights in the world right now.

“That’s what I want to hear and it’s great motivation,” Ortiz said. “I don’t take it as pressure, I take it as motivation. I want to prove to people that I can meet those expectations.

“You also have to fight the great competition that these other guys have fought for, and it gives you a measuring stick to see where you are. A lot of guys feel like they still don’t have to fight you until you prove yourself, so I think I have to do that.”

Even though Ortiz has shown a good mix of technical ability and aggression throughout his early rise, his Mexican-American roots have admitted that he is better than trying to mix things up and fight. Although he has successful boxing against Hooker, known as a great puncher, Ortiz will be looking for his 17th place in a row.

“I want to see what it’s made of,” Ortiz said. “They certainly didn’t push me or push me to the place where I need to run away. I want to see what I’ve got and what I think I’ve got. I’ve been fighting for fans I shouldn’t have won, but because I could get something out and do it because I think I have more to show I “.

Elsewhere in the card, the WBA women’s straw weight title is in place when champion Anabel Ortiz plays against Seniesa Estrada. Ortiz has yet to fight on U.S. soil and holds a 31-3 record. However, the 34-year-old has only three stops in his name. Estrada, meanwhile, won 19-0 on its resume with eight playoffs.

Fight card

• Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Maurice Hooker, welterweights
• Seniesa Estrada vs. Anabel Ortiz (c), WBA women’s straw weight
• Luis Hernandez Vs. Alex Martin, junior welterweight
• George Rincon Vs. Luis Solis, junior welterweights
• Hector Valdez Vs. Alberto Torres, junior featherweight
• Tristan Kalkreuth vs. Dustin Long, cruiserweight

Forecast

Although the betting test supports Ortiz in a surprising way considering his young manner, hunger and round play, we still haven’t seen the youth’s vision in a real firefighter against a comparable drill. Hooker has the potential to have this type of Kryptonite, which makes it an interesting live dog.

What should separate the two fighters at the end of the day, however, is that Ortiz has so far shown no major flaws and should maintain his boxing advantage to better consolidate his fight. -force power.

Look for Ortiz in order to weaken Hooker’s body in the beginning. While Ortiz may remain responsible from a defensive standpoint, Hooker will find it difficult to get into Ortiz’s possession in an effort to test his 22-year-old chin.

Knowing how much it would cost to stop a fighter with a hooker reputation to gain his critical stance – along with his penchant for getting into Hooker’s hobbies – this fight could be Ortiz’s real way out.

Choose: Ortiz via KO6