Maurice Hooker vs Cristobal Cruz in Tijuana. Photo c/o Stacey Verbeek
Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker is currently an undefeated junior welterweight who is ranked No. 2 by the World Boxing Organization and No. 4 by the International Boxing Federation.
The 27-year-old from Dallas trains out of the Maple Avenue Boxing Gym, where he has been coached outside of the ring just as much as inside.
Hooker grew up in Oak Cliff, a rough area of Dallas, but found boxing (and a few mentors) and used the sport to escape a harsh street life.
Now he’s passing along what he’s learned to younger generations.
“I talk to younger kids and point them in the right direction cause I don’t want them to go through what I went through,” he told us. “I tell them, ‘Follow your dreams; believe in yourself or nobody else will.’ I tell them, ‘Have a backup plan just in case something you want to do don’t work out..Do something positive with your life.'”
This is Mighty Mo’s story.
