Six Questions with Streaking WBC Interim Champion,
Who Challenges WBC Lightweight Titlist Edwin Valero
This Saturday, Feb. 6, Live on SHOWTIME® at 9 p.m. ET/PT
NEW YORK (Feb. 3, 2010) — A winner of 12 in a row and unbeaten in his last 16 (15-0-1) dating to May 2006, World Boxing Council (WB) interim champion Antonio DeMarco (23-1-1, 17 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico, will challenge devastating Venezuelan and WBC lightweight belt-holder, Edwin Valero (26-0, 26 KOs), in the main event this Saturday, Feb. 6, on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING live on SHOWTIME® (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast).
The event at Arena Monterrey will mark the first time a SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING broadcast has aired from Mexico since March 7, 1998, when Julio Cesar Chavez boxed a draw with Miguel Angel Gonzalez. It’s the first card on SHOWTIME from Monterrey in more than 15 years, or since Chavez stopped Tony Lopez on Dec. 10, 1994.
SHOWTIME caught up with DeMarco for his thoughts on this Saturday’s 12-round bout.
SHOWTIME: Have you ever met Edwin Valero?
DeMarco: “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.”
SHOWTIME: Do you feel comfortable knowing that you will be fighting a southpaw?
DeMarco: “He’s a fighter, period. I’m aware he is a southpaw but that doesn’t faze me. I’ve been in the ring with four other southpaws and did really well against them. I feel that when I fight against a southpaw 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.”
SHOWTIME: Do you think Valero is a tough fighter?
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. 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.”
SHOWTIME: Would you say that Valero mirrors any of your past opponents?
DeMarco: “Every fighter is different and each has his own talent and technique. Like I said, there is a reason that he 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.”
SHOWTIME: Do you feel like the challenger is this fight?
DeMarco: “I do feel like the challenger is this fight and I am OK with feeling that way. The way I see it, he 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.”
SHOWTIME: Are you approaching this fight with the steadfast mentality that you did your last fight?
DeMarco: “Absolutely. No question about it. I have the same mentality as I did my last. 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.”
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING announcers Gus Johnson and Al Bernstein will call the action with Steve Farhood reporting from ringside. The executive producer of SHOWTIME Sports is David Dinkins Jr. with Ray Smaltz producing and Bob Dunphy directing.
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