The semi-main event twelve rounder will mark the second time that DeMarco challenges for the full-fledged green and gold belt. In his first opportunity, DeMarco of Tijuana by way of Los Mochis, Mexico, came up short against the late Edwin Valero in Monterey, Mexico, in early 2010.

“That experience helped me a lot. That was a fight, like I have said before, that wouldn’t change for anything,” the soft but well-spoken DeMarco recently stated. “It is like if I went from elementary school to junior high school in that fight. That was as fight that I learned much from and this is how the sport is.”

Since that loss, DeMarco has gotten back on the winning track, stopping title challenger Daniel Attah in two and then earning a unanimous decision over Mexican Reyes Sanchez to capture the Silver belt once again. Despite the wins, DeMarco says that the losses are the real lessons, “You win and you lose and you must learn from your losses. My losses and the errors I have made in my life is what have made me who I am.”

If the Valero loss was if going from the sixth to the seventh grade, DeMarco does not feel a win over Linares and in turn capturing the title is like receiving a degree, “No, not at all. In this sport, you never graduate. You never stop learning. That is the difference. One needs to keep learning more and more. We know that if we win, bigger and better things will come and much tougher tests. We must be able to give even more of us.”

Former WBC interim lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco (24-2-1, 18KOs) or Tijuana, MX, made a successful comeback to the ring after his rather unsuccessful challenge for the full-fleged lightweight title of the late Edwin Valero last February in Monterrey, MX. Last Saturday DeMarco took on veteran Daniel Attah (24-6-1, 8KOs) of Nigeria in a scheduled ten round bout on the undercard of Bradley-Abregu at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, CA.

After controlling the first round, DeMarco landed an overhand left cross which sent Attah down to the canvas. The former title contender beat the count but only to be met with a barrage of punches from DeMarco while his back was to the ropes. A series of uncontested devastating left hands prompted the referee Raul Caiz Jr. to stop the contest at the 2:30 mark of the second round.

With the win, DeMarco hopes to get back into title contention by the end of the year.

The ten round bout against African Daniel Attah (24-5-1, 8KOs) will mark DeMarco’s return after coming up short in a title bout against the late Edwin Valero back in February.

“This is a very important fight because I must show that I have fixed the problems I had with Valero,” DeMarco stated before traveling north. “That fight taught me a lot, it showed me that I have to prepare myself even better than before.”

Besides marking the return to the ring for DeMarco, the bout against Attah also gives the southpaw the opportunity to continue to be world ranked by the WBC. DeMarco is expecting for his gym mate Humberto “Zorrita” Soto to vacate the WBC title to earn another opportunity to dispute for the coveted green and gold strap.

PHOTO: RAFAEL SOTO GIL

now full-fledged WBC king Edwin Valero (27-0, 27KO) last Saturday night in Monterrey, MX.

“I don’t have an exact response to what happened because I don’t know. I can’t explain why my body didn’t respond,” DeMarco said. “I do admit that in front of me I had a great champion, there is nothing to discuss.”

“At one point of the fight, I could’t execute our game plan,” the 24-year-old DeMarco added. “I tried to go toe-to-toe but Valero was intellingent. He deserved to win.”

DeMarco mentioned that his trainer, Romulo Quirarte, wanted to stop the fight at the end of the eighth but that he begged for another chance. Once Quirarte saw that DeMarco couldn’t better his performance, he stopped the fight.

“There is no excuses, Valero was the winner and there is nights when things don’t go your way,” DeMarco stated. “I promised my wife and daughter that I am going to be a world champion and this isn’t going to stop me. I have gotten up from worse.”