{"id":110275,"date":"2019-07-27T01:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-07-27T08:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=110275"},"modified":"2019-07-26T07:39:53","modified_gmt":"2019-07-26T14:39:53","slug":"jose-ramirez-given-edge-over-hooker-in-super-lightweight-bout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/jose-ramirez-given-edge-over-hooker-in-super-lightweight-bout\/","title":{"rendered":"Jose Ramirez Given Slight Edge Over Maurice Hooker in Battle of Super Lightweight Champions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jose Carlos Ramirez is being given the slightest of advantages against Maurice Hooker in their super lightweight title unification bout Saturday in Arlington, Texas.<\/p>\n

\"Maurice
Undefeated champions Maurice Hooker (left) and Jose Ramirez (right) will meet in a super lightweight bout in Texas on Saturday. (Image: Ed Mulholland\/Matchroom Boxing USA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ramirez is a -139 favorite according to DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a>, with Hooker fetching +105 odds in the battle between the two undefeated champions.<\/p>\n

Ramirez, Hooker Part of Four-Way Unification Struggle<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Saturday\u2019s bout features two of the four undefeated champions at the top of boxing\u2019s super lightweight division. Ramirez (24-0, 16 KOs) holds the WBC title, while Hooker (26-0-3, 17 KOs) is the WBO champion. The two other champions \u2013 Josh Taylor (15-0, 12 KOs) and Regis Prograis (24-0, 20 KOs) \u2013 hold the IBF and WBA titles, respectively, and are set to have their own unification fight in October.<\/p>\n

That means that Saturday\u2019s clash could well serve as the first semifinal in what proves to be a complete unification of the super lightweight titles. If that weren\u2019t enough to give the fight the feel of a major event, there\u2019s also the fact that Hooker is fighting in his home town, which should mean that an electric crowd is on hand to see if a local hero can get one step closer to becoming an undisputed champion.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been crazy at home since the fight was announced. Everybody has been telling me that they are coming and telling me to put on a show,\u201d Hooker said, via Bad Left Hook. \u201cDallas seeing me fight as a world champion is so big for me and for the city, all the kids I\u2019ve spoken to in the schools, the people that look up to me, can now watch me live.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hooker has proven to be a difficult matchup for just about everyone in the 140-pound division. In his most difficult fight so far, he came back from an early knockdown against the previously undefeated Alex Saucedo, using his height and wingspan to fight effectively from the outside and eventually secure a win by TKO in the seventh round.<\/p>\n

A Clash of Styles<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On the other hand, Ramirez will look to get inside against the taller Hooker in the hopes of negating that reach advantage, setting up an intriguing contrast of styles. According to Ramirez, who hails from California, he\u2019s not worried about stepping into Hooker\u2019s back yard for the biggest fight of his career so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaurice wanted the fight in his hometown so it was up to me to accept those terms and I did,\u201d Ramirez said, according to BoxingScene.com. \u201cSometimes the fights on the road are easier because I don\u2019t have the same responsibilities when I am fighting in Fresno as I am co-promoting the fights with Top Rank and I have to do a lot of appearances, but now I am the guest so I am here to do my job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

While Ramirez may be the slim betting favorite, most boxing<\/a> experts have described this encounter as a 50\/50 fight, as it is unclear which fighter will have the easier time imposing his style on the other. While Hooker has the handful of blemishes on his resume thanks to the three draws, he\u2019s also fought somewhat tougher competition than Ramirez.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Whichever fighter comes out on top could face an even tougher test in the future. While Ramirez and Hooker are highly regarded, Both ESPN and BoxRec rate Taylor and Prograis as the top two boxers in the weight class, and either would be favored over the winner of Saturday\u2019s fight in a potential unification bout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jose Carlos Ramirez is being given the slightest of advantages against Maurice Hooker in their super lightweight title unification bout Saturday in Arlington, Texas. Ramirez is a -139 favorite according to DraftKings Sportsbook, with Hooker fetching +105 odds in the battle between the two undefeated champions. Ramirez, Hooker Part of Four-Way Unification Struggle Saturday\u2019s bout […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":110276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJose Ramirez Given Edge Over Hooker in Super Lightweight Bout<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jose Ramirez enters Saturday\u2019s super lightweight title unification fight as the slight pick over Maurice Hooker, but experts see the bout as a toss-up.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jose Ramirez Given Edge Over Hooker in Super Lightweight Bout\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jose Ramirez enters Saturday\u2019s super lightweight title unification fight as the slight pick over Maurice Hooker, but experts see the bout as a toss-up.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/jose-ramirez-given-edge-over-hooker-in-super-lightweight-bout\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-27T08:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-26T14:39:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Hooker-Ramirez-Fight.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/jose-ramirez-given-edge-over-hooker-in-super-lightweight-bout\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/jose-ramirez-given-edge-over-hooker-in-super-lightweight-bout\/\",\"name\":\"Jose Ramirez Given Edge Over Hooker in Super Lightweight Bout\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/jose-ramirez-given-edge-over-hooker-in-super-lightweight-bout\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/jose-ramirez-given-edge-over-hooker-in-super-lightweight-bout\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Hooker-Ramirez-Fight.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-27T08:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-26T14:39:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Jose Ramirez enters Saturday\u2019s super lightweight title unification fight as the slight pick over Maurice Hooker, but experts see the bout as a toss-up.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/jose-ramirez-given-edge-over-hooker-in-super-lightweight-bout\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/jose-ramirez-given-edge-over-hooker-in-super-lightweight-bout\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/jose-ramirez-given-edge-over-hooker-in-super-lightweight-bout\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Hooker-Ramirez-Fight.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Hooker-Ramirez-Fight.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Undefeated champions Maurice Hooker and Jose Ramirez will meet in a super lightweight bout in Texas on Saturday. 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