Tremendous Valero Batters DeMarco

By Michael Norby: Undefeated WBC lightweight world champion Edwin Valero has made a career out of demolishing opponents inside the distance. The Venezuelan possesses freakish power and on Saturday night, his fiery fists were out in full force as he thumped Mexican boxer-puncher Antonio DeMarco for nine full rounds, forcing the beaten fighter’s corner to stop contest before the tenth could get underway at the Monterrey Arena in Monterrey, Mexico.

Valero 27-0 (27) began his career with an astonishing 18 straight first round knockout wins and, although he was forced to drive longer distances by subsequent opponents, he continues to boast a stoppage victory in every professional contest he has competed in.

Against DeMarco 23-2-1 (17) this evening, the Venezuelan overcame a blood curdling gash to his forehead in the second round to batter his opponent in what was a message sending performance televised in the United States on Showtime World Championship Boxing.

The taller, rangier DeMarco maintained distance well in the opening round and he connected with a stinging right jab early in the contest and a huge straight left hand that opened a small cut underneath Valero’s right eye. The powerful Venezuelan gathered himself later in the frame, however, and scored with a quick combination as his opponent retreated to the ropes and finished with a pair of sharp straight left hands which DeMarco took well.

Valero began to land more straight left hands to begin the second round as DeMarco retreated but at the midway point, the Mexican opened a vicious, jagged and deep gash on the right side of the champion’s forehead after what was ruled an accidental elbow, resulting in a point deduction under new WBC rules. The grotesque wound was immediately examined by the ringside doctor and, although it seemed certain that the contest would be stopped, he judged that Valero was free to continue.

Valero, with blood gushing down his head and onto his tattooed chest, jumped on his opponent after the restart and scored with both hands in a powerful display. A big left hand by DeMarco dumped Valero’s mouthpiece on the canvas and slowed the action, allowing him to hear the bell without further harassment.

Both guys landed crisp, accurate shots in the third as DeMarco opened up a little more but it was Valero who connected with the greater volume and he rattled off beautiful combinations as he backed his opponent to the ropes. For his part, the young Mexican took Valero’s punches extremely well and managed to shoot back with tasty straight left hands of his own to momentarily halt the onrushing champion.

Valero’s volume and power would have overwhelmed a lesser fighter and it almost got the better of DeMarco in the fourth when the champion ripped him with a furious sequence that seemed to buckle his opponent against the ropes. The young Mexican displayed a solid chin and he closed the round with a decent left hand but Valero, battling a monstrous, crooked and blood spewing cut on his head, controlled most of the round.

With open scoring in operation, all three judges had Valero up by wide margins after the fourth – two judges had it 39-36 while the other scored 40-35.

DeMarco just wasn’t doing enough and in the middle rounds, Valero continued to control the action. He connected with both hands regularly with DeMarco occasionally breaking up the action with single straight left hands and right jabs. The Mexican landed with his best sequence of the fight in the sixth as he got his man’s attention with a right hook and straight left hand but Valero dominated what came before and after that brief turnaround.

DeMarco’s jaw, seemingly constructed in a lab somewhere from iron and mortar, continued to deflect huge combinations in the seventh, eighth and ninth rounds. He had little answer and if he was banking on Valero running out of steam somewhere in the twilight of the contest, he couldn’t have been more wrong.

Indeed, after absorbing a dreadful thumping in the ninth, DeMarco’s corner told referee Laurence Cole that their fighter would not return for further punishment.

Time of stoppage: End of round nine.