According to Steve Farhood, this could be next up for DeMarco if Humberto Soto wins his rematch with Urbano Antillon to defend his WBC lightweight title. (If Antillon wins, DeMarco will challenge Antillon for the title.) DeMarco and Soto are cousins and will not fight each other. If Soto wins he will vacate to move up to 140, and a new champion will be named. DeMarco would then face European champ John Murray (who had been scheduled for a WBC eliminator last year against Daniel Estrada for the right to face Soto). I think John could certainly beat him on a good night. His form against Gary Buckland was plenty good enough to stymie DeMarco at least as badly as Reyes Sanchez did. :think
Good fight for one of these guys to win and then get a title shot. But I really don't rate these guys. I don't think any of them will do much on the world level.
demarcos fought better competition, any1 can look spectacular against the level murrays fought at lets not get carried away with some of his wins. i'm sure if murray was in there with a few fighters demarcos beat he wouldn't have britains longest undefeated record which sky keeps shoving down our mouths
I think Murray would edge it. Sanchez made DeMarco look very uncomfortable when he was crowding him and getting to him on the inside, I would think Murray would be able to replicate this except he'd be slighter smarter, have more pop on his punches and invest in the body a bit more. Whether Murray could take DeMarcos best shots? We don't know as Murray is untested at this level. I'd back him over this DeMarco kid I reckon :good
Well, I'm not British and therefore not exposed to any of the hype in your media. I've just seen Murray from randomly tuning in to UK fight cards and have been regularly impressed from an objective outside perspective. DeMarco would most certainly be his biggest step up to date by far (and has been in with a higher class) but which of his wins do you think are well above Murray's level? His best wins probably all came in 2009. His breakout win was against Kid Diamond, who was at the very end of his rope. Then he picked up a solid pair over Adjaho and Alfaro. Honestly I'm not 100% certain Murray couldn't have beaten their likes. Finally - styles do make fights and as we've seen from both Valero and Sanchez, DeMarco gets a roaring headache from pressure. Murray is very effective coming forward and doesn't let up. I think it's a very, very tight match-up where either could win depending on the night.
my issue with murray is that he grinds opponents down on accumulation these are opponents who'd be blown out of the water in a few rounds by any other serious lightweight yet it takes him 9 or so rounds to get them out of there. its not like they are fighting elusive and playing cat and mouse there standing right in front of him, these are domestic level opponents who are levels below guys like alfaro and kid diamond or sanchez, if he struggles to get rid of these type of guys it just tells you his power maybe diluted at world level.
Murray will never be a puncher at world level but if he lands a couple of hundred punches your bound to feel it, he gives any lightweight bar marquez a good fight.
I can't really recall who DeMarco is and didn't watch this weekends fights. I always get confused between DeMarco and Escalante for some unknown reason.
That is somewhat understandable. Both young B-level Mexicans named Antonio with somewhat similar styles who occupy lighter divisions in close proximity - and both had their momentum snapped when they stepped up to their biggest and most famous opponents (Valero for DeMarco; Ponce de Leon for Escalante). (aside from being named Antonio, Urbano Antillon actually meets most of those criteria as well and has definitely caused me to double-check before getting him mixed up with either of them :yep) Key differences: DeMarco is a lanky southpaw, is a bit more cautious and likes to fight tall (but isn't great at keeping really persistent and heavy-handed guys off of him), and floats between super featherweight and light welterweight (mostly competing at lightweight). DeMarco is a good deal more skilled when he does stay disciplined but is no cutie, and can be dragged into pier-6 brawls as he doesn't have the steely resolve to stick to a gameplan under duress. He doesn't have the same heart or durability of Escalante and has honestly folded whenever he's in tough (he was very close to losing to Adjaho before the bizarre ending to that contest, and all the rest of his best wins - including Alfaro, the Dulled Diamond, and Sanchez - have been against a lower level than that but still all saw him floundering a bit at times). Escalante is right-handed and roams from super bantam to super feather (mostly competing at featherweight). He's a bit more of a reckless masher, which makes for more exciting viewing (ie his FOTY candidates with both Cornelius Lock and childhood rival Miguel Roman). As a result he is a bit easier to beat so long as he can't get to you...much more similar to Antillon, in that regard. Escalante has more heart than both combined, however - coming through hairy moments to beat both Lock and Roman, and going out on his shield against a vastly physically and technically superior Ponce de Leon (that isn't a knock on Antillon, who still has more heart than DeMarco IMO; it's just that Acosta really visibly broke his will in their fight as Valero ultimately did to DeMarco and I don't see Escalante ever mentally caving like that).
They were pretty nice moves...Valero's boxing ability was definitely somewhat underrated. Anybody would have thought he was the next Mayorga the way people went on about him.