Antonio DeMarco vs. John Murray

Yes and no. Skeptics played his skills down, while his backers made him out to be some kind of flawless boxer-puncher wunderkind who could move all the way to middleweight cleaning house.

The truth was somewhere in the middle. He was a fair puncher by the time he got to lightweight (and had never at the lower weights stepped up to a level where it could be determined if his power there was indeed legit), whose main strengths were his speed and volume (and the stamina to sustain both) - and technically he was good but not great.

DeMarco was still riding a fair amount of hype from having retired Kid Diamond when they fought, which helped catapult Valero into mythical status even before his premature death. Honestly DeMarco has proven to not have the intangibles to match his skills, and as a career "magnum opus" conquest he doesn't exactly shine.

 

Just to be clear, should anyone think I'm overrating Murray (or underrating Valero): I think Valero would have stopped Murray as well...and it would take no longer than it did to stop DeMarco and be done with no less ease.

They're (DeMarco and Murray) really closely matched, IMO.

Alfaro is dangerous but extremely limited; Murray could outbox him as long as he is weary of his power and doesn't get caught with something stupid.

Sanchez would be stopped, as Murray is better at meeting guys halfway and likely wouldn't be deterred by those feather fists.

Buckland would give DeMarco fits (probably losing in the end, but making it a battle).

Murray might lose to Adjaho - but then, DeMarco very nearly did as well (and would in a rematch).

 

Double post. (stupid Firefox needing to refresh..)

 

Tough nut, and p4p biggest heart in the sport. :good

Of course he isn't much of a technician and isn't liable to ever bag a world class win, but he can lay a migraine on just about anybody who isn't well-prepared for a tussle.

 

Throw Vicente Escobedo in there as well. :deal

He isn't named Antonio...and he is technically American, not Mexican (Mexican-American). Otherwise he hits on all notes. Lightweight, B-level come-forward type, lost when he stepped up against a big name after generating some buzz on a lower tier (Katsidis, and since to Guerrero). I'm sure I've confused him with one or more of the above before - probably "Escalante", starting with the same letters and having 4 syllables.

Interestingly, with the exception of Antillon all those guys (Escalante, Escobedo, and DeMarco) all suffered losses early in their careers before rebounding and putting their nice streaks together en route to contention...streaks ultimately busted by the upper tier of Valero, Ponce De Leon & Katsidis.