Boxing Challenge:Ramirez stops Hooker in six- Unifies two titles

It was the fight that I was looking forward to most and it was worth the wait as Jose Ramirez broke through in the sixth round and stopped Maurice Hooker with a savage barrage that gave the referee little choice but to stop the fight with Hooker helpless along the ropes taking big punches.

To that point, the fight had been very evenly fought with several exchanges (I had Ramirez winning three of the previous five rounds) that saw both fighters landing bombs against the other.
The fight saw a knockdown in the first round scored by Ramirez, but as Ramirez admitted in the post-fight interview that Ramirez had stepped on Hooker's foot to cause the knockdown.
Even in the final round, Hooker had his moments and all the way to the end, Hooker was scoring his share of points and the left hook that Ramirez landed that drove a badly hurt Hooker into the ropes came from nowhere as Hooker lobbed out a lazy punch that Ramirez fired his left over.
Ramirez didn't waste his opportunity as he leaped onto the dazed Hooker, fired multiple punches and just as the referee was preparing to step in, Ramirez showed a killer instinct with one final missile that snapped Hooker's head back and gave the arbiter no choice but to end the fight.

For Ramirez, this not only gives him two titles and bragging rights for Top Rank but gives him a plausible argument for being the best in the 140-pound division, although the Regis Prograis-Josh Taylor winner would have a similar claim of holding two titles and an elite level victim on their resume'.
Ramirez showed aggression that he hasn't always shown and I loved him finishing off a badly hurt opponent.
Young champions don't always do that in similar situations and I was impressed with Ramirez not allowing a damaged opponent to regroup and closing the show.
I've always liked Ramirez, sometimes more than most, and before Regis Prograis entered the WBSS, a Ramirez-Prograis showdown was coming soon with Ramirez being the WBC champion and Prograis was their minor beltholder.
However showing foresight and faith in their fighters, promoters Bob Arum (Ramirez) and Lou DiBella (Prograis) agreed to table such a fight and gambled that a fight down the road between the pair would be worth far more and be more important.
That fight is one fight away from happening, although I wouldn't sleep on Josh Taylor's chances, who could very well defeat Prograis in their upcoming as that fight seems just as difficult to select as Ramirez-Hooker was.

The other fight in the boxing challenge saw Tevin Farmer retain his IBF junior lightweight title with a unanimous decision over Guillaume Frenois of France in a fight that was pretty tedious to watch.
The main excitement from this one saw Frenois consistently whining, flopping and moaning about Farmer's punches below the belt in an attempt to gain points or even a win that his own punches were not going to be able to deliver.
As for Farmer, who defended his title for the fourth time in the year since he won the championship, I admire the activity and wish other fighters would emulate his example, but he's defeating B and C level opponents and could use a step up in competition.

In the boxing challenge, I scored three points (Two for Farmer and one for Ramirez) to Ramon Malpica's one for Farmer to increase my lead in the boxing challenge to 194-171.

I am watching the Showtime card now and will be back later with a review of their event from Baltimore.