When all was said and done, Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Maurice Hooker resumed being two friendly rivals from the greater Dallas area.

The pair of welterweights engaged in an entertaining battle in front of a lively local crowd, with Ortiz prevailing via 7th round stoppage this past Saturday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Both fighters were generally respectful of one another throughout the buildup and all the way through the weigh-in, even after Ortiz initially missed weight before rectifying the matter at the scale less than 30 minutes later.

Any friendship formed prior to the fight being put together ceased the moment the opening bell sounded. Hooker (27-2-3, 18KOs) fought his heart out, only to suffer two knockdowns and a damaged right hand en route to being dealt a second career loss in his last three fights. The fall from grace comes after having previously enjoyed a junior welterweight title reign for 13 months, though not at all resentful over the outcome or his latest conqueror.

“I ain’t gonna lie; the dude is good,” Hooker confessed to BoxingScene.com and other reporters after the fight. “I’m still a fan. I’m from Dallas, he’s from Dallas. It’s all good.

“People can’t take this sh-- to heart. This is what we do for a living. We fight every day. I can’t trip over a loss, we just move on.”

That sentiment was shared by the evening’s victor who now gets to use the win as means to plead his case to advance to the title stage.

“I made sure to thank him for the opportunity,” Ortiz said after conquering his most established opponent to date in advancing to 17-0 (17KOs). “He didn’t have to step up and fight me, who in his eyes I’m probably still a prospect. He did and I appreciate him for it.

I have no animosity toward him whatsoever. He’s a good dude, he’s a really good person. I will always support him, no matter what.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox