Antonio DeMarco: 'I Will Be World Champion' After Beating Edwin Valero

When Antonio DeMarco enters the ring at Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico, on Saturday night, the 5-foot-10 challenger's slender frame, clean-cut appearance and baby-faced features will be in stark contrast to those of the tattooed, long-haired, wild-eyed, muscular WBC lightweight (135 pounds) champion, Edwin Valero.

In addition, the heavy handed, Venezuelan-born, 28-year-old Valero, who has the likeness of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tattooed on his chest, has stopped every man he's faced in the ring, having amassed a perfect record of 26 victories with as many knockouts.

By contrast, the 24-year-old DeMarco (23-1-1, 17 KOs) is considered more of a boxer than puncher, even as he enters the matchup riding a 12-fight winning streak as well as an unbeaten run of 15-0-1 with 10 knockouts since losing a six-round, majority decision to Anthony Vasquez in February 2006.

But ask DeMarco's promoter, Gary Shaw, about the fighter's pleasant exterior, and he'll tell you that it masks his innate toughness.

DeMarco has spent the past nine years of his life near the hardened streets of Tijuana, Mex., known for its drug-related death and general violence -- along with producing legendary world champions such as Erik Morales and Antonio Margarito.

"What makes Antonio special is he had a very, very tough upbringing, he was not an Olympic star, and he wasn't a prospect that every promoter was looking at," Shaw said in a telephone interview from Mexico on Wednesday night. "But Antonio is just a hard-working kid who came up the hard way both in life and in boxing."

DeMarco is coming off of perhaps his most defining moment -- an Oct. 31, 10th-round knockout of Jose Alfaro against whom he won every round.

The victory was the third straight stoppage for DeMarco, who fought the type of fight -- boxing and countering from a distance -- that he'll need to if he's to overcome Valero in Saturday's Showtime-televised event.

"No question about it, I have the same mentality as I did my last fight. I am walking into the ring knowing that there is no other option than to win. No one is going to keep me from my destiny," said DeMarco. "The way I see it, Valero is the absolute champion of the world, and I am stepping into the ring challenging him for that. So when I walk out, I will be world champion."

Valero, making only the second defense of his crown against DeMarco, has been to the 10th round once; eight rounds twice; and to the seventh round once during his career. Every other Valero opponent has lasted three rounds or fewer.

"I've never had the privilege of meeting Valero personally, but I have respect for him as a person and as a boxer. Respect aside, once I get in the ring, I will do my job -- and that is to challenge him like he has never been challenged before and, of course, to exit the ring as champion," said DeMarco, who like Valero is a southpaw.

"Valero's a fighter, period. I'm aware he is a southpaw, but that doesn't phase me. I've been in the ring with four other southpaws, and I did really well against them. I feel that when I fight against a southpaw," said DeMarco. "I react especially well since I'm a southpaw, too. I know what to expect. That's not to say that I only expect him to come in fighting southpaw. I know he may change his style, so I will make my own adjustments."

Shaw took a chance when he signed DeMarco not long after the he was 11-1-1, with nine knockouts, following a draw with Curtis Meeks in October 2006.

"We took him on after he already had a loss and a draw, but he kept working and he just got better and better. And now, he's now faced some good competition and he's been on television," Shaw said.

"So television doesn't bother him, the competition doesn't bother him. And if he keeps a cool head on Saturday night and takes Valero into the deep rounds, I believe that he'll win the fight. But he's got to stay away from trading with Valero early."

Valero remarkably knocked out his first 18 opponents in the first round, the last being Whyber Garcia in February 2006 in the WBA featherweight (130 pounds) title eliminator.

In August 2006, Valero got up from a third-round knockdown to stop Vicente Mosquera in the 10th, after having floored Mosquera twice in the first round.

Valero earned the WBA featherweight crown from Mosquera and defended it four times, including a May 2007 eighth-round knockout of Nobuhito Honmo, and a June 2008 seventh-round stoppage of Takehiro Shimada.

April's second-round stoppage of Antonio Pitalua earned the current crown for Valero, who is coming off of December's seventh-round knockout of Hector Velazquez.

"Every fighter is different and each has his own talent and technique. Like I said, there is a reason that Valero is a champion. He has that talent, so I give him the respect he's earned. All fighters are talented in their own right, so I can't compare him to anyone I have fought in the past," said DeMarco.

"I know Valero is a tough fighter, and that he has taken on quality opponents. I give him much respect. There is a reason why he is the champion, and he deserves all the accolades he has received," said DeMarco. "That said, Valero is no different than the opponents that I have faced. They were tough too, and so we will see how this fight turns out and who wins. I'm certain it will be me."

Valero-DeMarco is Showtime's first event televised from Mexico since the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez fought to a draw with Miguel Angel Gonzalez in Mexico City in March 1998, and its first broadcast from Monterrey since Dec. 10, 1994, when Chavez knocked out Tony Lopez in the 10th round.