Called a dreamer his whole life, Tijuana’s Antonio DeMarco is one step away from fulfilling his ultimate dream of becoming the Lightweight Champion of the world 

By Steve Galindo III

World Boxing Council interim lightweight champion, Antonio DeMarco is still in disbelief. At 24, the Tijuana resident by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico is on the verge of superstardom. Tomorrow night in Monterrey, Mexico (SHOWTIME 9 p.m. ET/PT) DeMarco faces his stiffest challenge when he meets lightweight kingpin Edwin “El Inca” Valero (26-0-26 KOs) for the lightweight championship.

For DeMarco, attaining this level of success at such an early age is something that still boggles his mind. “It’s something that I can’t explain,” said DeMarco. “All this that God’s given me it’s been fast, it feels like it’s happened in the blink of an eye. Capturing the NABO title, then winning a title eliminator, then facing Jose Alfaro and capturing the interim title, now a title shot with Valero – in reality I don’t believe it.”

 On the surface, DeMarco doesn’t come across as somebody that smashes people’s heads in for a living. He’s humble, smiles non-stop, and tends to break into a goofy laugh every so often, but beneath the boyish exterior lies a man that has defied the odds, and has struggled for all the good fortunes that have come his way.

DeMarco’s ring dreams began a little more than a decade ago. Inspired by his uncle, and grandfather who were both ex-fighters, young Antonio took up the sweet science and soon found his calling. At the ripe old age of 14, he decided to leave his home in Los Mochis with dreams of providing his parents with a better life. His travels landed him in Tijuana, where he was taken in by the city and its residents.

“Since I’ve been here in Tijuana a lot of people have helped me,” said DeMarco. “There’s been three families that I’ve had here in Tijuana that have helped me out, they gave me a bowl of soup, warm blankets, and a place to sleep, I thank God – thanks to them I stayed here.”  Soon thereafter, DeMarco met up with famed trainer Romulo Quirarte, and began training with Quirarte’s sons at the CREA boxing gym. After just 20 amateur bouts, at age 18, DeMarco turned pro in 2004.

In his first professional bout, DeMarco knocked out his opponent Antonio Valencia in two rounds, perhaps more memorable is the venue in which the fight was held at, Club Baby Rock. After the Valencia fight, DeMarco would go on to string together seven impressive wins, including a knockout victory over Carlos Mota at the 4th and B in downtown, San Diego.

DeMarco credits his early success to God, and to his lovely wife Tania, who has been the motivating factor in his career. “The best thing that’s happened to me is finding my wife,” DeMarco said. Just call them the Mexican version of Rocky and Adrian Balboa. Tania accompanies Antonio to all of his fights. In his last fight vs. Jose Alfaro, Tania had to rush to the locker room because she was too nervous, she eventually returned to see her husband dismantle Alfaro in the tenth round, and shared in the emotion of Antonio being crowned the interim champ “She always goes to all my fights, and she’ll be in Monterrey with our baby,” said DeMarco. 

DeMarco will need to heavily rely on the support of Tania tomorrow night when he faces a daunting task in Edwin Valero. Since turning pro in 2002, Valero has been wreaking havoc on the sport. His style is not so sweet; he fights with a raw savage emotion that is reminiscent of his Inca ancestors. In a statistic that is truly Tyson-esque, 19 of Valero’s 26 knockouts have come in the first round, and he has no intentions of slowing down. In fact, Valero has already called out two of the biggest names in boxing, Manny Pacquiao, and Juan Manuel Marquez. So does this mean that Valero is taking DeMarco lightly? Antonio doesn’t think so. “Valero has talked very well, he says it’s going to be a tough fight,” said DeMarco. “He says that I remind him a lot of himself when he fought for his first title because he was hungry, and that’s the feeling I have, I have a lot of desire to be somebody in  life, and what better than to do it against a great rival, and champion like Edwin Valero.”

Is he too young?

So what does Antonio DeMarco have to say about the whispers going around, the ones about him being too young, and not being deserving of a title shot? He actually agrees. “The truth is, I agree (laughs),” DeMarco said. “But I do know this, God has a way of doing things, he put me here for a reason because he knows that I can do it. He knows and I know, I’ve dreamed, many people called me a dreamer, and thank God for my dreams, because today I’m here competing for a world title.”

DeMarco rooting for Erik Morales

On March 27, Tijuana’s own Erik “Terrible” Morales returns, after a two-and-a half year retirement. Morales returns with the goal of becoming the first Mexican fighter to win four titles in four different weight classes. For his return, he is slated to face Jose Alfaro at a catch weight of 142 pounds.