By Keith Idec

VERONA, New York – Maurice Hooker didn’t have nearly as much difficulty dealing with Mikkel LesPierre as he experienced making weight.

Dallas’ Hooker comfortably beat LesPierre by unanimous decision to retain his WBO junior welterweight title at Turning Stone Resort & Casino. DAZN streamed Hooker’s 12-round victory as part of the Dmitry Bivol-Joe Smith Jr. undercard.

The 29-year-old Hooker (26-0-3, 17 KOs) made the second defense of the WBO 140-pound championship he won nine months ago by edging Terry Flanagan by split decision. Brooklyn’s LesPierre (21-1-1, 10 KOs) lost for the first time since he turned pro in June 2012.

Each judge scored the fight for Hooker by big margins. Don Ackerman credited Hooker with winning 11 rounds (119-108), Eric Marlinski scored a shutout for Hooker (120-107) and John McKaie scored 10 rounds for the champion (118-109).

“He’s good guy, a good fighter and I mean he stood up to the level,” Hooker said. “He’s good people, him and his team. But you know is all love and we all do this to feed the family. We’ve got people that depend on us. Hats off to him and his team and he will be back soon.”

Hooker had a lot of difficulty getting down to the 140-pound limit Friday. He came to the scale four separate times before finally tipping it at exactly 140 pounds.

Once he rehydrated, Hooker gained approximately 20 pounds prior to entering the ring Saturday night. The 5-feet-11 Hooker, who also owned a three-inch height advantage against the 34-year-old LesPierre, continuously cracked the shorter southpaw with his overhand right and floored LesPierre with a left to the body in the ninth round.

Hooker spent the final three championship rounds out-landing and out-hustling LesPierre, who couldn’t hurt the taller, stronger champion.

Way ahead on the scorecards, Hooker snuck in a left hook to the body around LesPierre’s guard, which sent the challenger to one knee just prior to the midway mark of the ninth round. Esteves nearly counted out LesPierre, who barely beat the count.

LesPierre showed resolve by keeping Hooker from hurting him again in the ninth round. He also fought back hard toward the end of the round to show he wasn’t still hurt from that body shot.

LesPierre out-worked Hooker during the eighth round, the best three-minute period of the fight to that point for the challenger. Hooker didn’t throw many punches in that round, whereas LesPierre let his hands go and had some success.

Behind on the cards, LesPierre at least was competitive in the sixth and seventh rounds. Hooker kept hitting him with his right hand during those three minutes, but he wasn’t as busy, which allowed LesPierre to land more shots than he had in previous rounds.

LesPierre went to the canvas about 25 seconds into the fifth round, but Esteves ruled it was the result of a slip. Hooker, who landed a right hand before LesPierre went down, pounced on LesPierre once the challenger got up and landed various clean shots.

LesPierre rallied toward the end of the fifth round, but Hooker hurt him with a right hand toward the end of it. Hooker also landed a right hand after the bell to end the fifth, which drew a warning from Esteves.

Hooker spent the fourth round firing his overhand right, many of which landed. LesPierre had a brief moment of success in that round, but Hooker was in complete command by then.

In the third round, Hooker cracked LesPierre with a right hand that stunned him. Hooker followed up with hard lefts to the body and made LesPierre retreat.

Hooker had a very successful first round, in which he regularly landed his overhand right and backed up LesPierre. An aggressive Hooker continued connecting with his right hand again in the second round, but LesPierre eventually moved him into the ropes and landed a combination.

Once 11 additional rounds were completed, Hooker wasn’t pleased with his performance.

“I give myself a C-minus in my performance,” Hooker said. “I wasn’t good, but I had to push. Look, you live and you learn. If you judge me from this fight, you better not get in the ring thinking the same thing, because I am coming for you.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.