It has been over a year since undefeated Light Welterweight Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker (16-0-2, 12 KO’s) from Dallas, Texas has stepped into the ring in his hometown of Dallas, Texas. He came back to the circled square after stopping his last two opponents in the first round to continue his climb in the ranks of the welterweight division. Fighting out of the Maple Avenue Boxing Gym in Dallas, Texas, Mighty Mo stands out among many of the best fighters in the metroplex. On Saturday night, Hooker was at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, formerly the Dallas Convention Center, which held many Golden Gloves tournaments and once upon a time back in 1966 hosted a world championship bout between Dallas’ former WBC and WBA World Welterweight Champion Curtis Cokes (62-14, 30 KO’s) against Jean Josselin (66-16, 41 KO’s).
Mighty Mo took on Gary Bergeron (12-12, 7 KO’s) from Louisiana on the main event. The game Bergeron came out and rushed Mighty Mo as the bell sounded and Hooker caught him coming in and Bergeron hit the canvas in the corner. Bergeron quickly got up and complained to the referee and the fight continued. Hooker then settled down and started to stick Bergeron with his jab and straight right hand as Bergeron stood his ground. But didn’t stand his ground very long as he got caught with a lightning left hook and he hit the canvas again. He took the count and got up grabbing his right shoulder wincing in pain. The round continued and Hooker started to land some heavy punches with both hands to the head of Bergeron and the bell sounded. Early in the second round, Hooker continued to land his jab to set up his straight right hand. He then landed a jab and a left hook to the body of Bergeron. Hooker then began to pummel Bergeron in the corner and landed a vicious right hand and Bergeron took a knee. Shortly thereafter his corner threw in the towel and the fight was stopped at 2:12 of the second round. Mighty Mo added another win to his undefeated record with sixteen wins and twelve knockouts. As always, Mighty Mo didn’t mince words with northtexasfisticuffs the day before the fight, and it didn’t go past four rounds, just as he predicted. His manager Arnie Verbeek is looking forward to Mighty Mo having a great year in 2015 and big accomplishments in the upcoming new year.
Fight Night Live is brought to Dallas by Arnie Verbeek, owner of the Maple Avenue Boxing Gym in association with Undercard Promotions. It will be the first of quarterly professional boxing events to be held at the same venue to showcase the many talented boxers in Dallas, the State of Texas and eventually from all over the country. This is good news for the many boxing fans in Dallas and the metroplex and it is welcomed by the City of Dallas. It has been too long for another boxing world champion from Dallas, Texas and these events intend to produce that champion in the near future.
Another exciting match was between Super Middleweight Tony Mack (12-1, 7 KO’s) from Dallas, Texas who stepped into the ring against Codale Ford (4-5, 2 KO’s) from Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. Mack had won his last four fights and he also knocked out his last opponent in August of this year in Memphis, Tennessee. In April of this year he captured the USA Texas State Super Middleweight Title with a unanimous decision over the very tough James Freeman (9-7, 7 KO’s) from Vernon, Texas. Mack started out the first round cautiously with his jab and Ford slipped in a quick short glancing uppercut and then landed a smooth jab. It wasn’t long after that when Mack landed a hard right hand to the head of Ford and he went down in the corner. He got up slowly limping from his right foot and took the count. Mack then went after him and began to land combinations as Ford was on the ropes. Ford shrugged off the punches and survived the round. In the second round, Mack went after Ford again and had him on the ropes, but this time he was landing much harder punches. Ford continued to act like he wasn’t affected, and then he slipped in a short overhand right hand which backed up Mack momentarily. Mack continued to pummel Ford in the corner and the bell sounded. Just before the bell sounded for the third round, Ford fell from his stool agonizing in pain from his side and upper leg and could not continue. The fight was stopped by TKO at 10 seconds of the third round.
Light Middleweight Enver Halili (7-0, 2 KO’s) from Klina Kosovo took on the very tough southpaw Adam Ealoms (3-7, 1 KO) from Bryan, Texas. Northtexasfisticuffs has seen Halili in action and in his last fight he took out his opponent with a third round knockout. This time it went the distance of six rounds and in the first round, Ealoms came out forcing the action. In a back and forth trading of punches, Halili clearly countered his way through the first round. In the second round, Halili caught Ealoms with a quick uppercut that got the crowd excited. The uppercut is what northtexasfisticuffs had seen from Halili in his past fights and it is clearly a good weapon in his arsenal of punches. Halili then landed a combination and a stiff left hook and Ealoms hit the canvas to the delight of the crowd. Halili then followed it up with a big right hand that shook Ealoms to his foundation and the bell sounded to save him from the second round. In the third round, Halili had a noticeable small cut under his left eye as both fighters traded punches in a back and forth battle that continued through the fourth round. The tough Ealoms was forcing the action but was being countered by punches from Halili. Halili then landed two lightning fast left hooks to the oncoming Ealoms in the fifth round. At this point in the fight, Ealoms was bleeding badly from his nose, but he continued to come forward. Halili finished this round with a fast combination and landed the last punch at the bell. In the sixth round, Halili picked up the pace and went to the body and the head of Ealoms and landed his trademark uppercut and Ealoms mouthpiece came out. They then began fighting toe to toe and Ealoms mouthpiece came out again. Both fighters then let their hands go until the bell sounded. Halili won the fight by unanimous decision against a very tough opponent. The cards read 60-53, 60-53, 60-54.
In the Featherweight division, southpaw Frankie Agnew (1-0, 1 KO) from Chicago, Illinois, fighting out of the Maple Avenue Gym made his professional debut against Marco Alcaraz (0-2) from Greenville, Texas. Agnew, who has an outstanding amateur career used his boxing skills and took it to the gallant Alcaraz in his first professional bout. Things started off quickly for Agnew as Alcaraz forced the action in the first round. The southpaw Agnew quickly landed a punch that wobbled Alcaraz and then he followed it up with a huge left hand that almost sent his opponent out of the ring. Alcaraz survived the first round but much more was to come in the second round. The tough Alcaraz continued to try to force the fight but he was being countered with combinations. Agnew then landed three jabs in a row and a nice combination. Agnew then began teeing off on Alcaraz to the excitement of the crowd and the referee stepped in to stop the fight. The official stoppage was at 2:10 of the second round.
In the Super Featherweight division, Fernando Garcia (1-0) from Monterrey, Mexico, another fighter from the Maple Avenue Boxing Gym, made his debut fight against Heath Cline (0-2). It may have been a debut fight for Garcia, but his boxing skills were evident as he stood tall as he methodically landed his punches against Cline. In the first round, Cline came out charging Garcia, but Garcia kept his calm and countered his opponent with precise punches. At one point in the first round, the over confident Cline stuck his tongue out at Garcia, which got a good laugh from the crowd. Despite his antics in the first two rounds, Cline was clearly getting outboxed by Garcia. Before the bell sounded at the third round, Cline growled at Garcia and continued to act like he wasn’t affected by Garcia’s punches. As much as he attempted to get Garcia off his game, it was to no avail. In the fourth round, Garcia went to the body and the head and followed his game plan through perfection. Garcia went on to win his debut fight by unanimous decision.
In the super featherweight division, Thomas Smith (0-1) made his debut fight against Carlos Adame (1-0), who also was making his pro debut. In the first round, Smith came out looking good landing two left hooks and had Adame moving backward. Adame then came back and landed three right hands to the head of Smith, to the delight of the crowd. They then traded punches and then Adame landed a huge left hand and got the crowd excited again. At the beginning of the second round, Smith forgot to put his mouthpiece in, but the referee quickly caught the mistake and the round continued. In this round, Adame was going for the fences as he missed some wild left hands, but then he landed several other left hands and a nice right hand punch. Smith did get in a nice counter punch toward the end of the round, and as the round ended, Adame glared at him as he went to his corner. In the third, Smith began to put the pressure on Adame and Adame’s nose began to bleed. As they fought on the inside, they both landed good punches and Adame landed a good right hand at the bell. In the final round, although Adame’s nose continued to bleed, he landed two big left hands on Smith toward the end and they went toe to toe until the bell sounded. Adame went on to win by unanimous decision.
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