Maurice Hooker is back in the win column.

Little was learned in his first fight following his 140-pound title reign, as Dallas' Hooker disposed of late replacement Uriel Perez inside of one round Friday evening at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.

A right hand to the body prompted a knockdown, with Perez unable to continue in forcing the stoppage at 2:52 of round one.

Hooker entered the fight on the heels of his first defeat, a 6th round stoppage loss to Jose Ramirez in their 140-pound title unification bout this past July. The first career setback prompted sweeping changes, including his enlisting the services of noted cornerman Brian 'Bomac' McIntyre—best known for his work with three-division champ and pound for pound entrant Terence Crawford. The bout also took place at a new weight of sorts, with the 5'10" Hooker fighting at 144.3 pounds in barely testing the welterweight waters.

"The weight didn't bother me, we got a new team," Hooker (27-1-3, 18KOs) said after the brief affair. "The weight didn't bother me, I'm just ready."

He didn't get much of a test in the ring. Perez came in as a late replacement for Pedro Campa, not putting up much of an effort and his night virtually ended with a right hand to the body. A right hand upstairs by Hooker punctuated the knockdown, despite Perez (19-5, 17KOs) complaining of getting hit on top of the head. The 24-year old Mexican journeyman barely beat the count but complained of severe rib pain, prompting the stoppage.

"Tonight I didn't show you all much but it was just about getting everything ready," Hooker said after picking up his second win of 2019, having outpointed Mikkel LesPierre as an undefeated title this past March. "When I hit him with a body shot, I came back and hit him on top of the fight. I was hitting him with my jab, nobody can mess with me. I got the best jab in the business."

If he gets his way, Hooker's next order of business will take place on the title stage.

"Where I'm from, you can't go out like that," Hooker noted of his last loss. "I just want my belt back. [Unified titlist] Josh Taylor, whoever you got. I just want my belt back."

The bout streamed live on DAZN in supporting capacity to the super middleweight debut of Daniel Jacobs (35-3, 29KOs) versus a considerably heavier Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (51-3-1, 33KOs) in a battle of former middleweight titlists.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @Jake Donovan