Notebook: Vergil Ortiz can go to the next level with win against Maurice Hooker
Fierro KOs Machado in upset; Beterbiev returns; Quick hits
Rising welterweight star Vergil Ortiz Jr., the 2019 prospect of the year, has developed into a contender, but whether he can rise to the next level will depend largely on what happens in what is supposed to be a step-up assignment for him against former junior welterweight world titlist Maurice Hooker.
The Dallas products will meet in a 12-rounder for a regional title and hometown bragging rights in the main event of a Golden Boy Promotions card on Saturday night (DAZN, 9 ET) at Dickies Arena in Forth Worth, Texas.
Ortiz (16-0, 16 KOs), 22, will be fighting in his home region for just the third time in his career and happy to do so, as well as to test himself against a fighter he has wanted to face for the past few years.
“I’m very thankful to be fighting back at home again, especially after fighting in a bubble last year,” Ortiz said at Thursday’s final news conference. “It was a really cool experience. I found that I really love the fans. I enjoy the fans. So, what better place to come back and fight than in the Dallas/Fort Worth area?
“This fight is really special to me. I asked for this fight at 140 pounds. (Hooker) was a good fighter then, and he is a good fighter now. I want to fight the best. The only way to be the best is to fight the best. I feel very confident. I have the confidence of my promoter and team behind me. I had a great camp, and I am ready to go.”
The last time Hooker (27-1-3, 18 KOs), 31, fought at home was two fights ago in July 2019 when he met Jose Ramirez to unify 140-pound titles. It was a disaster as Ramirez knocked him down in the first round and stopped him in the sixth round in Arlington, Texas.
“This fight will mean everything to me,” Hooker said. “I’m happy to be back at home where fans at home can see me. And it’s great to give to the fans something special after all they have been going through.”
Hooker said he’s paid attention to Ortiz’s career but that he is not at all concerned about his perfect knockout record.
“I have been watching Vergil Ortiz for a while now,” Hooker said. “I have been supporting him since he started because he is from Dallas. His 16-0 with 16 knockouts don’t mean nothing to me until we get in the ring. I mean, it’s cute, but we will see in the ring.
“The fact that I’ve been called the underdog has pushed me more. I’ve prepared well for this fight. I’m going to go in the ring, do my business, and have fun with it.”
Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya said he believes in Ortiz and that a win will launch him to bigger fights.
“Everyone is saying that he is the next big thing in the welterweight division, and he is,” De La Hoya said. “But first he has to get past Maurice Hooker, and that is no easy test. This is a real fight and a tough test for him. If he beats him, then he is going straight to the top of the division, where there are lots of big fights to make. I can’t say who I want him to see next because this Saturday’s fight is a big test.
“Hooker’s style, abilities and experience make him dangerous. He’s going to show Vergil different angles. It’s a different style than what Vergil has faced in the past.”
Fierro drills Machado
Late replacement Angel Fierro survived knockdowns in the first and second rounds and rallied for an upset sixth-round knockout of former junior lightweight world titlist Alberto Machado in their lightweight bout Thursday night in the main event of the Ring City USA card outdoors at the Olympic Center in Salinas, Puerto Rico.
Machado, of Puerto Rico, who was in his second bout at lightweight after back-to-back knockout losses from body shots in junior lightweight title bouts against Andrew Cancio, looked like he would end the fight quickly with the two early knockdowns, both coming on right hands.
But Mexico’s Fierro (18-1-1, 14 KOs), 22, who took the fight on six days’ notice though he was training for another bout, was undeterred. He back strong against the southpaw Machado (22-3, 18 KOs), 30, in the fourth round by landing many hard body punches. He carried the momentum into the ensuing rounds, eventually landing a huge left hand to the chin that drilled Machado, who was counted out at 47 seconds by referee Jose Hiram Rivera.
“I’m happy. I faced a top-notch fighter tonight in Alberto Machado,” said Fierro, who trailed 48-45 on all three scorecards at the time of the knockout. “He is world class and dropped me twice. But I am ecstatic that I was able to come back and beat a fighter of his caliber. When I got back to my corner, I told them remind me of my daughter because with this fight I can change her life and that’s exactly what they did after the third round.”
Fierro replaced undefeated up-and-comer Hector Tanajara, who withdrew due to a positive Covid-19 test.
“We found a lot of gaps in Machado’s game in the sixth round,” Fierro said. “I took advantage of them and I turned it around. I told you in the interview (before the fight); I didn’t come here to be a tourist in Puerto Rico. I came here to win.”
Beterbiev finally returns
Light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev had great momentum after unifying two titles by knocking out Oleksandr Gvozdyk in October 2019, but that quickly was halted. He will be hard pressed to top the frustration of what has transpired over the past year.
He has seen his fourth title defense delayed multiple times due to the coronavirus pandemic, a rib injury and even his own Covid-19 illness. He has seen the site shifted multiple times. He even had his opponent change from mandatory challenger Meng Fanlong to Adam Deines.
But, finally, almost one year to the day that he was originally supposed to fight for the first time following the win over Gvozdyk, Beterbiev will finally climb back into the ring to defend against Russian countryman Deines on Saturday (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+, 3 p.m. ET) at Megasport Arena in Moscow with the prospect of a three-belt unification fight later this year if he is successful.
I spoke to Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) at length and wrote about his lost year and what likely is in store for him if he beats Deines (19-1-1, 10 KOs) for The Ring magazine website. Please read that story here: https://www.ringtv.com/619396-adam-deines-stands-between-artur-beterbiev-and-another-unification-opportunity/#.YFOlZ_VD3iI.twitter
Glowacki, Okolie confident
Former two-time cruiserweight world titlist Krzysztof Glowacki has recovered from his bout with Covid-19 and is anxious to regain the belt he has twice held when he meets Lawrence Okolie for the vacant WBO title on Saturday (DAZN in the U.S., Sky Sports in the U.K., 3 p.m. ET.) at the SSE Arena, Wembley in London.
“I’m very happy I can finally fight after such a long layoff,” Glowacki said this week. “I was absolutely devastated when I found out I was Covid positive, but every cloud has a silver lining. Now I feel better than in December. When I came back to training after Covid, I had some stamina issues, but everything is OK now. I feel pumped up and ready.
“I'm hugely motivated for this fight. I’m going to have a great opponent in front of me who has big ambitions of his own. I heard Okolie had some plans to unify, but he has to beat me and it’s not going to happen. I will retrieve my belt and I will bring it back to Poland. I will become WBO world champion for the third time in my career. There is no other option.”
Glowacki and Okolie (15-0, 12 KOs), 28, of England, were originally schedule to fight Dec. 12 on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s unified heavyweight title defense against Kubrat Pulev. Okolie instead faced late replacement Nikodem Jezewski and stopped him in the second round.
Glowacki (31-2, 19 KOs), 34, a southpaw, hasn’t fought since his controversial third-round knockout to Mairis Briedis that cost him his belt for the second time in the World Boxing Super Series semifinals in June 2019. Glowacki said he is not concerned about the 21-month layoff.
“Okolie is unbeaten, he’s big and he’s strong. He has long arms and a huge reach, but I’ve noticed some weaknesses that you will see on the night,” Glowacki said. “I’m ready for this fight and I’m ready to beat him. You will see on Saturday how I will beat him up. I’ve had a lot of sparring partners who were tall and uncomfortable.”
Okolie said forget all that and that he will win by stoppage.
“It will be entertaining for fans because there’s going to be someone trying to really put it on me. I believe I’m going to win by stoppage,” Okolie said. “I’m just excited to watch the highlights of the fight afterwards to see what shot I did it with.”
Quick hits
Flyweight world titlist Moruti Mthalane (39-2, 26 KOs), 38, of South Africa, and Sunny Edwards (15-0, 4 KOs), 25, of England, are close to finalizing a deal to meet on May 1 at a site to be determined in the United Kingdom, multiple sources told Fight Freaks Unite. Mthalane has made three successful title defenses in his second title reign. Edwards will be moving down one division from junior bantamweight. Assuming the deal is completed, featherweight contender Michael Conlan (14-0, 8 KOs), 29, of Northern Ireland, is slated to appear on the card, which will stream on ESPN+ in the United States, according to one of the sources.
Super middleweight Azizbek Abdugofurov (13-0, 5 KOs), an Uzbekistan native fighting out of Malaysia, will defend his regional belt against Russia’s Pavel Silyagin (6-0, 4 KOs) in a 12-round bout that is the new co-feature to the Artur Beterbiev-Adam Deines light heavyweight title fight on Saturday (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+, 3 p.m. ET) in Moscow, Top Rank announced. The bout was moved up the card when Russian welterweight Alexander Besputin (13-0, 9 KOs), 29, saw his opponent, Maximiliano Ricardo Veron (12-3-1, 4 KOs), 32, of Argentina, drop out of their 10-rounder that was supposed to be the co-feature. Veron was replaced by Viktor Plotnikov (33-10, 15 KOs), 43, of Ukraine, who has lost seven fights in a row and was a downgrade in opponent. The change led to Besputin being repositioned further down the card.
England’s Savannah Marshall (9-0, 7 KOs) will make the first defense of her women’s middleweight title against Belgium's Femke Hermans (11-3, 4 KOs) on April 10 (DAZN in the U.S., Sky Sports in the U.K.) on the undercard of welterweight Conor Benn’s fight with Samuel Vargas, Matchroom Boxing announced. Marshall stopped Hannah Rankin in the seventh round to claim the vacant WBO title in October. “I’m very aware of Femke Hermans, a very good fighter. She’s been in with the best, she’s a former WBO world champion, so I’m sure she’s going to try and get her belt back,” said Marshall, who handed Claressa Shields an amateur loss, her only defeat as a pro or amateur.
Show and tell
The legendary Manny Pacquiao had already won world titles in three divisions — flyweight, junior flyweight and featherweight — when he moved up to junior lightweight for a highly anticipated fight with Mexican great Erik Morales. It wasn’t for a world title but it was still a very big fight, which took place March 19, 2005 — 16 years ago Friday — at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It was a terrific battle and delivered the exact kind of all-out action everybody expected. While Morales won a unanimous decision (115-113 on all three scorecards), Pacquiao would rebound for one of the greatest runs in boxing history, winning 15 fights in a row against many huge names as he won world titles in five more divisions up to junior middleweight to set the record of winning world titles in eight weight classes. During the streak Pacquiao knocked out Morales in their second and third fights.
I love this fight, which was supposed to be my first one at ringside for ESPN after I left USA Today. However, I got sick the day before I was supposed to travel to Las Vegas. I had a high fever and had no choice but to cancel the trip as much as it pained me to do so. I missed the fight in person but, of course, I have memorabilia from it. Here’s a program from the fight in my collection.
Ortiz-Hooker photo: Sye Williams/Golden Boy; Fierro photo: Tom Hogan/Ring City USA; Glowacki photo: Matchroom Boxing
Great format. There's so much happening in boxing that it's easy to miss some things. I'm up to speed on the Okalie card, knew Ortiz/Hooker was this weekend, however had no idea Beterbiev was making his long-awaited return.
Looking forward to the return of Beterbiev but he needs to fight Dmitry Bivol quick otherwise we're going to see Beterbiev on the downside of his career fighting a still prime Bivol. Okolie is making a big step up as Glowacki is a lot better than anyone he's fought so far so this is the first fight were we get to see how good he really is.