Hooker, Saucedo ready for war

The “Red River Rivalry” — the pugilistic version — has kicked off. WBO junior welterweight champion Maurice Hooker, from Dallas, Texas, will defend his world title Friday evening against Oklahoma City native Alex Saucedo at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, home of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. This will be the first title defense for Hooker (24-0-3, 16 KOs), who won the belt June 9 when he traveled to Manchester, England, and defeated Terry Flanagan via split decision. Hooker and Saucedo worked out Monday at the Azteca Boxing Club. This is what they had to say.

Maurice Hooker: “This is his first time in a world title fight, so he’s nervous. It’s his first big fight at home. A championship. I know he’s nervous. I’ll tell you this. Don’t blink, because I’m coming.”

Alex Saucedo: “I’m going to show boxing fans the real me on Nov. 16. He can say what he wants about me getting hit a lot, but I don’t have any draws on my record. He says I’ve been hit a lot, but if you have three draws on your record, that means you’re not that hard to hit…I just want to beat him up and become the new WBO junior welterweight champion of the world.”