BoxRec

Hooker defends his WBO Super Lightweight title against unbeaten LesPierre on the Bivol/Smith Jr card this Saturday, I'm really starting to warm to Hooker, he impresses me more with each fight, coming off 2 great wins away from home against Flanagan and Saucedo, he did get decked early against Saucedo but grew into the fight, outboxed Saucedo and tore him apart, ive only seen LesPierre once when he stopped a fella called Gustavo David Vittori on a b/nation card last year, he was alright I suppose, relaxed southpaw picks his shots well but he's 33 now, didn't move much and the stoppage was a bit iffy even though he had Vittori down 3 times and was beating him up

Hooker's got good movement and also picks his shots nicely, I can see him outboxing LesPierre quite comfortably and stopping him after the middle rounds

handsofstone wrote: ↑07 Mar 2019, 04:53 Hooker defends his WBO Super Lightweight title against unbeaten LesPierre on the Bivol/Smith Jr card this Saturday, I'm really starting to warm to Hooker, he impresses me more with each fight, coming off 2 great wins away from home against Flanagan and Saucedo, he did get decked early against Saucedo but grew into the fight, outboxed Saucedo and tore him apart, ive only seen LesPierre once when he stopped a fella called Gustavo David Vittori on a b/nation card last year, he was alright I suppose, relaxed southpaw picks his shots well but he's 33 now, didn't move much and the stoppage was a bit iffy even though he had Vittori down 3 times and was beating him up

Hooker's got good movement and also picks his shots nicely, I can see him outboxing LesPierre quite comfortably and stopping him after the middle rounds

I like him too. He's got the name and technique of an eighties fighter. Class act.

Maurice Hooker just couldn’t do it.

The Dallas native struggled all week to make weight for his WBO junior welterweight title defense Saturday night at Turning Stone Resort & Casino. When a naked Hooker stepped on the scale Friday, he weighed 140½ pounds, half a pound over their division’s limit.
Being overweight has jeopardized Hooker’s title defense against Mikkel LesPierre on the Dmitry Bivol-Joe Smith Jr. undercard.

The 5-feet-11 Hooker, who’s unusually tall for his weight class, has one hour from the time he weighed in, approximately 5:25 p.m. ET, to return to the scale at a maximum of 140 pounds. If Hooker can’t make weight, the WBO will strip him of a title he won by beating Terry Flanagan by split decision June 9 in Manchester, England, Flanagan’s hometown.

The 34-year-old LesPierre (21-0-1, 10 KOs), a Brooklyn resident raised in Trinidad & Tobago, met his contractual obligation by officially weighing in at 138¾ pounds. If Hooker can’t come to the scale on weight, the WBO junior welterweight title will be at stake only for LesPierre.

Hooker wins a wide UD to retain his title. I had it 118-110, he had LesPierre down in the 9th with a left across the body and he had LesPierre down in the 5th as well but the ref never called it despite a right hand catching him on the top of the head, it was a bit of a dull affair, Hooker started of well drilling LesPierre with right hands down the middle and working the jab but he seemed to slip into autopilot and looked a bit bored and content to just go the distance even after scoring the KD he didn't keep up the tempo for long

LesPierre was competitive enough but not enough to win many rounds, he never let his hands go except for little spurts, if he'd been more active then he could've made it closer, he done a decent job of making Hooker miss and a lot of Hooker's work was partially blocked but it was Hooker who looked in control at all times

Bit of a snoozer if I'm honest

Wasn't the greatest watch this, LesPierre was game and showed a lot of toughness but struggled to deal with Hooker's reach and combinations when he kept things long. Was occasionally competitive when Hooker sat in the pocket but all in all a pretty one-sided affair.

Wonder if it will be Jack Catterall next..