Valero was tested early in the fight from two cuts. The first happened in the opening stanza off a long and sharp DeMarco left. The second came via a left elbow off a short hook gone horribly wrong from DeMarco that opened a nasty gash high and right on Valero’s forehead in the second round. What was worse was that DeMarco was fighting conservatively enough to keep things close and to keep Valero working to get inside.
In the end, “The Kid’s” nickname was prophetic as Valero showed himself to be the more experienced, more versatile, harder-hitting, and resilient fighter. “El Inca,” one of two nicknames for Valero, gave way to the second name, “Dinamita,” as Valero battered the brave and game DeMarco throughout a multiple angle, hit and move, all out nine-round assault.
The action started tight as both men met at center ring and slipped along the far ropes; each looking to get in a jab or left hand lead. Valero worked up and down to the head and body with his jab. DeMarco, who was looking at anyone but Valero and raining down words or kisses on them in the pre-fight introductions, looked tight now under the pressure of “El Inca.” Then came the first cut. Valero didn’t even blink. It didn’t seem like he even knew it happened until after the fast-paced-but-pedestrian first round and his corner went to work on him.
The second round seemed like it was just getting under way with DeMarco getting in a one-two and landing hard with the left hand while Valero worked in and out on his toes, circling until he found an opening.
Then came the second cut.
DeMarco shot a right jab at Valero’s head, closed the gap and tried a chopping right hook. But he misjudged the angle and his elbow landed first. Valero grabbed at his head and walked away while complaining to referee Laurence Cole who sent him to the ropes to see the doctor. Cole brought DeMarco to center ring and let the judges know it was a cut off an accidental elbow. Then the fighters squared off again and the action was set to resume.
The blood flowing out of Valero’s head after the elbow was the fire that set off “Dinamita.” He came out charging at DeMarco, throwing punches like he wanted DeMarco to catch up in terms of damage. Lefts and rights, hooks upstairs and uppercuts to follow flowed from Valero like an angry river with a broken dam behind it. DeMarco was poised though, and he fought back in spurts, looking to stem the tide and take advantage of the fact that the man in front of him had the right side of his face covered in gushing blood.
This was looking like a good fight already.
Valero’s corner, as RingTv.com’s Doug Fischer, who was seated to my right, pointed out did an interesting thing to Valero’s cut. They painted over Valero’s nasty gash, sometime after the third, with his hair and Vaseline. This got things under control and while Valero still bled quite a bit, over the course of the fight it seemed to stop or control the flow of blood.
Bloody or not, Valero went into overdrive as he flowed around DeMarco, circling left and right but always with the intention of boring in for a long hard left or a piston of a jab to the head or gut. DeMarco just couldn’t get his offense going. He’d snap out a single jab with a left behind it. Sometimes he’d get in a right hook, usually to end a round. But he was getting beaten to the punch and paying a price for it.
Before the fight, DeMarco hoped to get Valero deep water and drown him there.. This made some sense as Valero has 19 first-round KOs and only one fight going as long as ten rounds. Deep water is not where he spends his work days.
The problem for DeMarco was that Valero got off so much offense, missing by a little, early but landing hard on target in the middle rounds, that by the time he got to deep water, he was the one drowning.
By the end of the eighth, the room I was in, filled with bloodthirsty savages and boxing fans, was calling for a stoppage. Maybe because they bet the over, but I got the sense that it was more because DeMarco was taking heavy leather to his face and body and not looking better for it. While he wasn’t terribly swollen or cut at all, his gait was that of a drunk just past last call steadying himself under the swirling reality around him. That reality was Edwin Valero, not tired but just hitting stride, unloading shot after shot from every angle he wanted.
The fight would go one more round and for one more round, DeMarco showed his guts and determination as Valero, sensing the end was near, gave no quarter. While no head-snapping, Mike Tyson-like highlight reel ended the fight, the sight of Valero’s relentless, intelligent, two-fisted attack was impressive on its own. Thought to have devolved into a mere brawler, Valero showed he can rise not only up to the competition, but beyond it. The tools in his bag were vast tonight as he headed right through DeMarco and into the lightweight division’s unknown.
DeMarco, who has nothing to be ashamed of, was gracious in defeat, though he did he feel he had an off night.
"My trainer, who is my family, saw the punishment that I was taking,” DeMarco said through an interpreter. “I’m a Mexican fighter, I never wanted to quit. But my trainer saw that [Valero] was just a better fighter. My body did not respond today. I felt that I was a stronger fighter than him but my body did not respond. It wasn’t my night."
Valero hugged DeMarco and spoke with him briefly in the ring.
"I told him that he was a great champion and he told me that he always respected me," said the reason DeMarco’s body did not respond. “I told him that he was a strong fighter. This experience shows me that I can’t be going after fighters that way for six rounds. I have to pace myself."
While I agree with Valero’s assessment of his tactics, the way he fought respectfully of DeMarco’s skill and, yet was able to get off his offense, was impressive. He showed a patience and guile he hadn’t previously and it paid off in spades.
"My physical strength started to show," Valero said. "Little by little, I started gaining ground. The first three or four rounds I couldn’t hit him with my jab, but then I started to connect."
The future is bright for Valero who called this his best fight yet. His promoter, Bob Arum, spoke of Valero potentially moving up to 140 pounds and taking on junior welter champion Tim Bradley, in what surely would be an all-action fight of the highest caliber. Whatever the future brings, Valero proved tonight he belongs in big fights against top fighters and showed he has more than a chance of winning them.
Follow Gabriel at twitter.com/Gabriel_montoya or email him at maxgmontoya@gmail.com
