Maurice Hooker (25-0-3, 17KOs) will return on March 9th to defend his WBO super lightweight world title against Mikkel “Slikk Mikk” LesPierre (20-0-1, 9KOs), a New York native hailing from the borough of Brooklyn.

The bout will be the co-main event for the DAZN card headlined by Dmitry Bivol versus Joe Smith Jr., at a location that is not yet announced.

Hooker, who will be attending tonight’s Matchroom card in New York City, which will be televised on DAZN, will be watching fellow super lightweights in action such as Chris Algieri and Jorge Linares, who may fight him in the future.

Hooker is coming off the best year of his career defeating Terry Flanagan to win his world title as well as defeating undefeated prospect Alex Saucedo in Saucedo’s hometown.

LesPierre, who is signed to Lou DiBella, has mostly fought on club shows in New York, but this will be the biggest opportunity of his career.