Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker took the backroads to a world title.

The Texas-based fighter didn’t have a decorated amateur career per say nor did he have the blue-chip prospect label like many upcoming fighters, instead he had a desire to make the most of his skills which crescendo with a win over Terry Flanagan in Flanagan’s hometown to pick up the WBO super lightweight world title.

“It was a dream come true, me and my team [SIC] talked about going [overseas] and I had been traveling my whole boxing career…so I didn’t mind going to England.”

The upset-minded fighter didn’t just beat Flanagan, he whooped him despite a split decision victory that watching the bout saw a fairly one-sided win for U.S. based fighter who came into the fight as an underdog.

Last go back in time though, I think it is important to know that I met Hooker roughly three years ago in a historic Oakland boxing gym, King’s Gym. It was a scheduled media event prior to an Andre Ward bout, Hooker came with an entourage that more resembled his family than the typical pomp and circumstance of a boxing crew. In boxing, you see everything and Hooker’s team was one of my pleasant memories of a fighter you get to meet along the way, a very positive person surround by people who appeared to want the best for him in life.

Now move forward to the present, Hooker holds a world title that signifies him as one of the four best fighters in his division by virtue of the title.

“[My career]…had a lot of ups and downs, but we came together and we did it. At first, I didn’t have a promoter then we signed with Roc Nation and they helped us out a lot and got us a title shot.”

Roc Nation Sports, Hooker’s promoter, has been heavily criticized for the way they have entered boxing or their lack of entry so to speak, but it is impressive to see the culmination of Maurice Hooker, a fighter in need of the help of a promoter, get a push from the promotional entity and get a world title from the push. Hooker is the classic story of a talented fighter who need help from a promoter to get his chance and Roc Nation did that for him.

Yet adversity is nothing new to Hooker as just a short while ago, Hooker was being written off for a less than stellar performance against Darleys Perez on the Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev I undercard.

“For the Darleys Perez fight, I went in their with a busted eardrum.  We went to the doctor like a week before the fight….come fight night the ring was shaking and everything was just awkward. I was getting hit with a jab and falling over.”

Hooker’s draw against Darleys Perez is the performance a lot of boxing pundits looked at his stand-alone end-all be-all performance, which isn’t fair. Hooker is a fighter that truly embodies the sport of boxing in the sense, he made something tangible out of hard work and perseverance.

Maurice Hooker is an American world champion and one who has done it the hard way, which is not as common as most might think.