Mexican lightweight Antonio De Marco first became a champion in October of 2011 with a fabulous come from behind knockout of Venezuelan stylist Daniel “Niño de Oro” Linares in front of a healthy crowd at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. By the end of fight both warriors face were beaten and bloody but DeMarco walked into his hotel room that night with the green and gold WBC belt strapped around his waist. It wasn’t the first time DeMarco held a WBC title but this one was the one that counted.
Two years prior DeMarco defeated hard hitting Jose Alfaro for the interim WBC lightweight belt via a tenth round technical knockout. It was his next fight that put DeMarco on the boxing map. Not because he won it but because it was the last fight that the late great Edwin Valero ever participated in. In February of 2006, DeMarco went nine rounds with the volatile knockout artist Valero. Only some days after stopping DeMarco and defending his 135 pound title, Valero murdered his wife and then committed suicide in his native Venezuela.
After beating Linares, DeMarco defended his title in his hometown of Los Mochis, Mexico, by stopping Miguel Roman in five, then he knocked out John Molina Jr in one in his next fight. In November of 2012, DeMarco faced “The Problem” Adrien Broner and he turned out to be just that, a problem. That night DeMarco had nothing for Broner and was unceremoniously stopped in eight.
It’s been a hard road since then for the twenty-nine year old DeMarco.
He decided making the lightweight limit was becoming to taxing on his body so he moved up to the junior welterweight division. He defeated B level fighters in Fidel Monterrosa, Jesus Gurrola and Lanardo Tyner. Tyner actually dropped him in the first but he was more embarrassed that hurt. In his last fight of 2015 he faced Jessie Vargas for the WBA super lightweight title and lost a unanimous decision. In his last fight only a couple of months ago DeMarco lost another unanimous decision to Cuban Rances Barthelemy.
After that loss DeMarco announced his retirement. He mentioned that he spoke to his family and his team and that he didn’t want to be anybody’s stepping stone but like so many before him, DeMarco is coming back.
In his second fight on the B side against a Premier Boxing Champions fighter, DeMarco will face former lightweight champion Omar “Panterita” Figueroa on September 26th at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The fight will be televised on terrestrial TV on NBC and will be the semi-main event for Deontay Wilder vs Johann Duhaupas.
The fact that Figueroa likes to mix it up might be reason enough for DeMarco to make the comeback. The purse can’t be all that bad either. A loss against Figueroa and it can only mean for certain it would definitely mean the end of DeMarco.
A win puts him back in the mix.
