By Frank Gonzalez Jr. – Saturday night in Sunrise Florida, at the Bank Atlantic Center, Antonio DeMarco (22-1, 1, 16 KO’s) of Tijuana took on Anges Adjaho (25-2, 14 KO’s) of Benin Africa in a WBC Lightweight Eliminator bout. The winner would get a shot at the WBC titlist, Edwin Valero, who has knocked out all six of his last opponents since he, ‘stepped up.’ Valero has also knocked out every man he’s ever fought so far as a pro boxer.
The way this fight started didn’t sit too well with the fans, who booed the lack of action as DeMarco and Adjaho spent too much time looking at each other and not enough time throwing punches. When there was a punch thrown, it was usually Adjaho throwing it. DeMarco lit up in the final seconds of the first scoring a big straight left into the face of Adjaho. It was the most effective punch in the round..
As the rounds progressed, it was Adjaho doing most of the work and DeMarco doing his interpretation of, ‘the art of fighting without fighting’ and it was getting old real quick with the fans, who continued to boo. There was talk of how DeMarco’s camp wanted him in a fight where he could work on having patience. Well, this was it, but it was wearing on the fans patience in a negative way until Adjaho began to rev up the action and make it a fight. DeMarco looked almost robotic on defense.
I had Adjaho winning rounds two, three and five on activity alone. Adjaho showed good reflexes and respectable boxing prowess. DeMarco didn’t do much but in the fourth round, when they finally started mixing it up, Antonio landed a bazooka straight left followed by another to the body. That hurt Adjaho but instead of going after him, DeMarco let him recover. DeMarco did well in the sixth, a close round, landing that stinging straight left and an uppercut that backed Adjaho up. Adjaho tried to hold but DeMarco didn’t let him and landed a flush left that saw Adjaho looking wobbly just before the bell.
Adjaho did well enough to out box DeMarco in the seventh but the pendulum swung the other way when DeMarco suddenly decided to turn up the heat and be more aggressive. DeMarco landed a big right followed by a combination. Adjaho looked weakened after DeMarco’s sudden burst of offense, which seemed to be percolating into a crescendo of fire power. Again, DeMarco gave Adjaho time to recover instead of going for the finish.
In the ninth, Adjaho was jabbing at center ring and suddenly, DeMarco began to pressure him backwards, landing an uppercut that staggered Adjaho, who stepped back and went to take a knee. Before his knee touched the canvas, DeMarco grazed him with a punch by the back of his head. Adjaho then tried to get theatrical, rolling over and playing dead, while the referee, Tellis Assimenios counted to ten.
What did Anges Adjaho think? That the referee is going to count to ten and then change his mind and let the fight continue, ala Cintron vs. Martinez? It was over and Antonio DeMarco had won by KO in nine.
Congratulations to Antonio DeMarco, who is now the mandatory opponent for Edwin Valero. DeMarco better be more animated against Valero or that fight won’t last more than one round. Valero is like a buzz saw that comes to destroy you.
DeMarco is a good fighter with solid power. He seems an intelligent fighter and looked great against Kid Diamond, a brawler and did well against a good boxer in Adjaho. Is he ready for Valero? We’ll find out soon enough.
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