Vergil Ortiz Jr. Beats Mo Hooker and Seniesa Estrada Wins World Title

An all-Texas shootout saw Vergil Ortiz Jr. deliver a knockout win over former champion Maurice Hooker for a WBO regional title in a shootout in “Cowtown” Fort Worth on Saturday.

Ortiz (17-0, 17 KOs) a native of nearby Grand Prairie, Texas defeated Hooker (27-2-3, 19 KOs) of Dallas before a live audience at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. It was not an easy fight.

The long arm of the law Hooker fired jabs to start off the fight, but Ortiz quickly found a path inside and delivered solid rights. That caused a change of tactics.

In the second round both fighters were trading body shots mixed with blows to the head but neither seemed affected by the exchanges. Ortiz seemed more comfortable exchanging blows.

Hooker opened up the third round with a three-punch combination to quickly gain the momentum and the advantage. Ortiz worked his way back into contention with left uppercuts and shotgun jabs, but Hooker found the range for short left hooks and crisp rights. It was the best round for the former super lightweight world champion.

“He was showing me he was durable. He was smart and trying to get around my guard but I know what to do,” said Ortiz of Hooker’s tactics. “The game plan was to slow him down.”

Both fighters opened up the fourth round by attacking each other’s body. Ortiz caused some separation with the shotgun jab that caught Hooker by surprise. That seemed to give Ortiz the momentum but Hooker grabbed it back with a three-punch combination and back-to-back rights. Ortiz capped the close round with another shotgun jab.

For the next two rounds both Texans refused to give ground and exchanged carefully but freely and then a left hook under Hooker’s heart followed by an uppercut and left hook delivered the lean Texan to the floor for the count in the sixth round. He survived.

“I couldn’t breathe,” Hooker told his coach after going back to his corner.

The fight continued but when the two Texans exchanged, an Ortiz right cross connected solidly and down went Hooker. He could not get up but held his left arm gingerly and was visibly showing pain. Referee Laurence Cole stopped the fight at 36 seconds of round seven for a technical knockout win for Ortiz.

“I did think it was going to go the distance. The head shots weren’t hurting him to be honest,” said Ortiz after the stoppage. “

The new owner of the WBO International welterweight title said he wants a crack at any of the current world champions including Terence Crawford or Errol Spence Jr. who were both in the arena.

“I don’t care if I’m ready or not, I want that fight,” said Ortiz about fighting for a world title.

Hooker advises Ortiz to wait.

“He’s young and up-and-coming. He’s good, but he’s not ready,” said Hooker.

Ortiz disagrees.

“I’m ready for a title shot,” he said.

Seniesa Estrada Wins World Title Finally

Finally fighting at her natural weight Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada (20-0, 9 KOs) proved that 105 pounds was not a problem as she powered past cagey veteran Anabel “La Avispa” Ortiz (31-4, 4 KOs).

Behind clever footwork and switching from orthodox to southpaw, Estrada kept Ortiz mostly in a defensive counter-punching mode. It was the wrong decision for Ortiz.

Estrada proved in every round that she was the quicker and more powerful fighter with strafing left hooks and rights that pummeled Ortiz’s face. The Mexican refused to wilt and fired right counters and check left hooks.

A crisp right cross sent Ortiz staggering along the ropes and to the floor in the second round. It didn’t look good for the champion Ortiz, but she battled her way out of trouble to continue the fight. She used well-timed counters to keep Estrada from over-running her.

Still, it didn’t look like Ortiz would be able to survive Estrada’s firepower.

Ortiz was attempting to defend the title for a 13^th time. But it was unlucky for her that Estrada was seeking her first world title. After 10 rounds Estrada was deemed the winner by a unanimous decision, 100-89 twice and 99-90, and she became the new WBA minimum weight world titlist.

Other Bouts

Argentina’s Marcelino Lopez (37-2-1, 22 KOs) floored Mexico’s Jairo “Doberman” Lopez (27-12, 18 KOs) four times in a super lightweight firefight until finally getting the knockout.

Marcelino Lopez found success with his overhand rights several times in hammering Jairo Lopez to the floor in the first, second, third and fifth rounds. It was finally stopped when the Argentine connected with a right uppercut at 1:24 of the fifth round. The Mexican fighter signaled he could not continue after trying his best in every round.

Tristan Kalkreuth (8-0, 6 KOs) powered right through combat veteran Dustin Long (4-2-2) to win by knockout in their cruiserweight showdown.

It didn’t take long for Kalkreuth to unleash a 21-punch barrage capped by a left hook to the body and hook to the head that finished Long at 1:18 of the first round.

“I got the job done,” said Kalkreuth who was concerned that Long was taken out of the boxing arena via stretcher. “I pray for a quick recovery.”

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