By Francisco Salazar
Maurice Hooker has built an unbeaten record up to this point in his career.
While he has earned rankings amongst the sanctioning bodies, which version of Hooker will show up when he steps inside the ring?
Will it be the Hooker that scored early and impressive knockout victories over the likes of Santos Benavidez, Wilfredo Buelvas, and Ty Barnett? Or will it be similar to the underwhelming performance he had against Darleys Perez, which ended in a split decision draw?
Many of the those questions could be answered tonight when he squares off against another unbeaten fighter in Courtney Jackson. The 10 round junior welterweight bout will take place at the Omni Dallas Hotel in Dallas, Texas.
Hooker, who resides in Dallas, is promoted by Roc Nation and managed by Arnie Verbeek. The 28-year-old Hooker was victorious in his last bout on February 24, scoring a one-sided decision over former featherweight world titleholder Cristobal Cruz.
Hooker is ranked number two by the WBO and number four by the IBF at 140 pounds.
As he moves into the peak of his career, Hooker could be one or two victories from a world title. However, it is how you win fights that fans and sanctioning bodies seem to keep in the forefront of their minds.
Hooker is a talented fighter and does have upside, but could an impressive performance tonight over Courtney Jackson reward him with another high-profile fight? Boxing fans still remember the performance he had against Perez, and some even believe Perez did enough to win.
On the flip side, Hooker will be the toughest test Jackson will face on paper thus far in his career. Jackson (17-0, with 10 KOs) has an unbeaten record, but the opposition he has faced is average at best.
Jackson knocked out Hamza Sempewo in the opening round of his last bout on June 17 in Miami, not far from his hometown of Homestead. The 29-year-old has been very active since making his pro debut since February of 2015.
In a six round junior bantamweight bout, Ernest Delgadillo (8-0, with 2 KOs) of Dallas will square off against hard-hitting Wildemar Pagan (8-1-1, with 7 KOs) of Puerto Rico.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
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