Hooker vs Flanagan – England’s undefeated Terry Flanagan (33-0) faces off against Maurice Hooker (23-0-3) for the vacant WBO world 140 pound world title. The fight is the main event of promoter Frank Warren’s show at the Manchester Arena this Saturday night and for Flanagan a win means a world title in a second weight class.
Flanagan enters the fight a hefty favorite and rightfully so. He has been around the block a few times and when you consider he has scored just 13 KOs in a 33 fight career, you have to recognize that he is a pro who knows his way aroud the ring. He won the WBO lightweight title in July of 2015 and held it through five title defenses before vacating to move up in weight.
Flanagan is a draw and as such, all five of his title defenses were at home and he has lured Hooker across the “pond” so that he can host this one as well. That is where the advantages start and they do not end there. Flanagan has more skill in just about every area of the game, with punching power at this weight class remaining the only real open question. He flashed power in his first title defense, knocking out highly regarded American Diego Magdaleno in less than two rounds, but at 140 it remains to be seen how much pop he will have.
Read “Tyson Fury Returns Saturday in Manchester” for more on Saturday’s fights.
Meanwhile, the 28 year old Hooker has worked his way up through the Premier Boxing Champions rankings and this is his first world title shot. At 5’11 he is going to have a noticeable height advantage on Flanagan and he will try to use an active jab to keep Flanagan at a distance. He wants to fight “tall” but he probably lacks the experience to keep a guy like Flanagan at the end of his jab for twelve rounds. He has scored 16 knock outs in his 26 pro bouts, but he does not really have one punch knock out power and he needs to have the punishment add up on his opponents. It is a tall order for Hooker to score a KO and you can probably forget about his chances of winning a decision in the U.K.
The end result Saturday points to a Flanagan win and that will open the question as to where he fits in the 140 pounnd weight class. Some of the other belts in the weight class are held by Regis Prograis, Jarrett Hurd and Mikey Garcia and Flanagan will eventually be called upon to face one of those names. We will find out more bout Flanangan down the line if a Garcia type agrees to go to England to face him? Hooker is credible, but Flanagan has avoided the top shelf of opposition even when he was at lightweight. With the WBO belt in tow, expectations will be higher for Flanagan.
Hooker vs Flanagan and probably the Tyson Fury fight are going to air on BT Sport in the United Kingdom, so you can check your local listings for start times.
Hooker vs Flanagan Odds
Sat 6/9 – Manchester Arena – Manchester, England
Super Lightweight 12 rounds –
Maurice Hooker +600 o9½ -285
Terry Flanagan -900 u9½ +205
Heavyweight 10 rounds –
Sean Turner +700
Nathan Gorman -1300
Hooker vs Flanagan / Check out more boxing news and features at The Sweet Science.
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