-- Photo Credit: Tom Casino/Showtime --

In spite of being a two-time world champion with an unbeaten record of 26-0, with all victories coming under the limit,  many questions still remained about the legitimacy of Edwin Valero’s power punching ability and overall boxing skill.  Many in the boxing community questioned the level of his opposition and wondered whether he belonged in the top echelon of the Lightweight division.  Having fought mostly in South American rings and lacking television exposure, he remained a mystery in boxing circles. 

Some of those doubts may have been answered after Valero’s successful defense of his WBC  Lightweight title against Mexico’s  Antonio De Marco at the Arena Monterrey, in Monterrey, Mexico.   With a record of 23-1-1 and 17 KOs on his ledger, the talented Mexican enjoyed a height and reach advantage and was expected to provide a stern test to the champion’s credentials.  The talents of  the Venezuelan born champion have been somewhat validated after the decisive win over De Marco. 

Entering the ring to the sounds of a Mariachi band, the challenger looked very confident and relaxed.  The champion was greeted with the expected boos from De Marco’s hometown Mexican fans.   From the opening bell,  it was evident that Valero’s fight plan was to press the action with non-stop combination punching.   De Marco was content on counterpunching and avoiding the champion’s power early in the fight.   “My plan was to take the fight into the latter rounds, where Valero had not been too often,”  De Marco stated in the post fight interview.   

With both men fighting from the southpaw stance, De Marco’s excellent right jabs bloodied the champion’s nose and opened a cut on Valero’s right cheek as the first round ended.   The active second round found Valero applying constant pressure and De Marco content on boxing & moving,  with the champion landing the harder, more effective combinations.  As De Marco threw a right hook, his elbow accidentally hit Valero high on his forehead, causing a very bad cut that started bleeding immediately.  The referee stopped the action and summoned the ring doctor to check the cut, and the action was allowed to continue.  However, under the rules, De Marco was accessed an automatic 1-point deduction for the accidental elbow.   The deduction would later prove inconsequential. 

Applying an “opening scoring system” where the judges’ scores are announced after the fourth and eight rounds,  all three judges had the champion ahead after the fourth round scores were announced.  With his superior power, constant pressure and more effective punches landing, Valero kept a torrid pace in the middle rounds.  With the champion clearly in complete control of the fight, De Marco valiantly tried to turn the tide but was unable to maintain the champion’s fast pace.   

After absorbing some hard combinations from Valero in the eight round of what was now a one-sided fight,  De Marco was asked  in between rounds if he wanted to continue.  Although he did not appear to respond to his corner man's question,  De Marco was nevertheless allowed to continue into the ninth round,  which proved to be another brutal one for the Mexican challenger.   Sensing that the fight was close to being stopped,  Valero pinned  the challenger on the ropes and stepped up his attack,  doing some serious damage to his opponent.   

With a clearly beaten De Marco sitting on his stool after the ninth round ended, his corner wisely did not allow him to continue and advised the referee that the fight was over. 

The victory by Valero was his second title defense of the WBC Lightweight title he won in April 2009 via a second round KO over Antonio Pitalua.   He had previously held the WBA Super Featherweight crown but relinquished that title in order to move up to the higher lightweight division. 

Both fighters displayed a mutual respect for each other in the post fight interviews,  with Valero admitting that,  “De Marco was the toughest fight I’ve had.”    The loser also complimented the defending champion.  “Valero is a great champion, very strong.  However,  tonight I just did not have my legs, I don’t know why, they just didn’t respond,” said the beaten De Marco. 

The answer may have been that Valero’s relentless, smothering pressure and terrific body work had sapped the energy out of the challenger.  So convincing was Valero’s victory that all three judges had identical scores of 89-81 when the fight was stopped, scoring only one round for the challenger.  The champion from Venezuela left no doubt about his non-stop aggressive style, his high punch output and boxing ability while displaying his superiority over the tough  Mexican challenger. The only thing lacking was an explosive knockout victory to add an exclamation point to the hype that preceded Valero and his 26 KOs in a perfect 26 win career. 

However,  before we anoint Valero as a dynamic puncher,  there still remains a question in this writer’s mind about his advertised punching power.  It is clear that Antonio De Marco has a strong chin and a brave heart, attributes necessary to have success in boxing.  However, Valero landed some devastating power punches directly to the challenger’s head and body that had no apparent affect on his opponent, as De Marco did not even flinch.  Not a good sign for a supposedly dynamic puncher carrying the nickname of  “Dynamite” and a resume of 27 victories with all 27 via the knockout route. 

Now that the American boxing public has taken notice of the outstanding Venezuelan champion,  he will have plenty of opportunities in the very talented Lightweight division to validate his claim of having “Dynamite” in his fists.