Maurice Hooker recognizes the type of danger he has embraced in his first legitimate welterweight fight.

The former WBO junior welterweight champion views Vergil Ortiz Jr. the same as virtually everyone else. Hooker (27-1-3, 18 KOs) also is confident that Ortiz (16-0, 16 KOs) is taking a considerable step up in class in their 12-round, 147-pound fight Saturday night.

“I think I’m way better than the fighters he’s fought so far,” Hooker told BoxingScene.com. “You know, they stand right in front of him, just let him hit them, just go to war. They was walking punching bags, some of them. Not all of them, but I think I’m better than all of them.”

Antonio Orozco is commonly considered the most formidable foe Ortiz has faced since the highly regarded knockout artist turned pro in July 2016. Their fight was competitive before Ortiz dropped Orozco three times in the sixth round, the same round in which their scheduled 12-rounder ended in August 2019 at Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie, Texas, Oritz’s hometown.

Like San Diego’s Orozco (28-2, 17 KOs), Hooker will enter his fight with Ortiz with just one loss to Jose Ramirez on his record. Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs), who beat Orozco by unanimous decision in September 2018, knocked out Hooker in the sixth round of their 140-pound title unification fight in July 2019 in Arlington, Texas.

Hooker has beaten two previously undefeated opponents – Terry Flanagan and Alex Saucedo – in WBO junior welterweight title fights.

The 31-year-old Hooker edged England’s Flanagan (then 33-0) by split decision to win the then-vacant WBO 140-pound crown in June 2018 in Manchester, England, Flangan’s hometown. In his first title defense five months later, Hooker overcame a second-round knockdown to stop Alex Saucedo (then 28-0) in the seventh round in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Saucedo’s hometown.

“I’ve fought opponents like him,” Hooker said of Ortiz. “I’ve fought five, six undefeated guys who came in there to take my ‘0’ away at the time. I mean, so I know he’s coming. I just have to go in there and do the best I can and just do me, and have fun with it.”

Most oddsmakers have established the 22-year-old Ortiz as at least a 12-1 favorite to beat Hooker in a main event DAZN will stream from Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas (9 p.m. ET). Hooker, a Dallas native, acknowledged why Ortiz is favored in their fight.

“Right now, I really don’t see no weaknesses,” Hooker said. “I know he do everything great. Good jab, good boxing, good movement. I think he’s a good boxer, so I don’t see nothing bad in him right now.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.