Tony DeMarco Career Retrospective (rare footage)

Here's a compilation of Tony DeMarco fights on Youtube, some of which I've added myself and some of which were already on there.

Thanks to Raging B(_)LL and TheGreatA for supplying several of the fights below.


DeMarco was one of the hardest hitting welterweights in history, somewhat like the Pipino Cuevas of his era. He was a relentless, stalking-type fighter with tremendous power in both hands. He was also a tough and courageous battler. He actually had some fair technical skills, but those tended to deteriorate as fights progressed, and he tended to load up on every punch he threw. The two very best welters of his era (Carmen Basilio and then Virgil Akins) were able to wear him out and stop him late, but they had to survive some terrific hardships to do so. Otherwise, DeMarco was generally successful against the standout fighters of his era, with wins over Johnny Saxton, Vince Martinez, Bud Smith, Paddy DeMarco, Johnny Cesario, George Arajou, Gaspar Ortega, Don Jordan, and Kid Gavilan, among others.

DeMarco first made a name for himself by beating top lightweights in over-the-weight contests (ie: Arajou, P. DeMarco). Here was one of his first big wins against a fighter his own size, the Danish WW and MW champ Chris Christensen, who was coming off a surprising win over HOFer Billy Graham. In his customary aggressive, free-swinging style, DeMarco let his hands fly and battered the more skillful Dane into a 6th round stoppage.

From Raging B(_)LL:
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A draw with reigning LW champ Jimmy Carter in a non-title fight earned DeMarco a shot at WW champ Johnny Saxton. At this time, Saxton was considered one of the most skilled technicians in the division, while many people just dismissed DeMarco as an "overachieving clubfighter." However, DeMarco defied the critics by drawing the classier Saxton into a wild toe-to-toe shootout and battering him into a 14th round stoppage to take his title.

From Raging B(_)LL:
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Unfortunately, DeMarco was contractually obligated to make his first defense against mandatory challenger Carmen Basilio. They met in Basilio's hometown of Syracuse, NY for one of the greatest all-action slugfests in history, and the first installment in a classic two-fight rivalry. The two fought on even terms early, but Basilio's superior technical skill and more precise punching ultimately wore out the quicker and harder hitting DeMarco, and he was brutally stopped in 12 rounds.

From SugarRayRobinson1's video channel:
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As DeMarco prepared for a rematch with Basilio, he took on Chico Vejar, a very popular crowd-pleasing contender, somewhat like the Arturo Gatti of that era. Although coming into this fight off a sizable winning streak, he proved to be outclassed against DeMarco and was shockingly blasted out in a single round.

From Raging B(_)LL:
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That set the stage for a highly anticipated rematch with Basilio, which was now held in DeMarco's home turf of Boston. Many experts gave him a good shot at reversing the first fight, and indeed he fought a much better fight this time as he good off to a big lead over the first 8 rounds or so; but the tough and cagey Basilio managed to wear him down and again stop him in the 12th round.

From TheGreatA's channel:
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Nevertheless, DeMarco wasn't "done" after losing to Basilio. He put together a series of good wins over the next couple of years and re-established himself as the #1 contender. One of those wins was this one, against the ATG ex-champ Kid Gavilan. They fought a very close, hard-fought battle, with DeMarco outslugging the Kid early and Gavilan summoning some of his old boxing form and outscoring DeMarco in the late rounds. DeMarco took a close, debatable decision.

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After Basilio vacated his crown after winning the MW title, a tournament was arranged between the top WWs to determine his successor. DeMarco was included among the contestants; but shortly after the tournament was announced, he lost this fight to Virgil Akins and with it his place in the tournament. This may well have been one of the greatest fights in history, and started a rivalry every bit as thrilling and savage as the one DeMarco had with Basilio. Unfortunately, these rounds below (from the first fight) are all I've been able to find of this vastly underrated and overlooked rivalry.

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Following a similar pattern as the two Basilio fights, DeMarco fought well early, but Akins managed to survive his bombs and then take the fight from a weary DeMarco in the closing rounds.

The two fought a rematch shortly afterward, and it followed basically the same pattern, this time ending with DeMarco being stopped in the 12th round. Akins then went on to fight in the WW title tournament in DeMarco's place, and came out on top as the new champion.

For DeMarco, the second of these losses signaled his decline as a top tier fighter. A few fights later, he suffered a freakish cut in the first round of a fight with Denny Moyer and it was stopped almost immediately. He tried one more comeback after that, and in his last impressive performance he KO'd ex-welter champ Don Jordan (who had won the title by beating Akins) in two rounds. He then looked sluggish in winning a close, hard-fought decision over journeyman Stefan Redl, and after that he chose to retire, stating he no longer believed himself capable of competing with the top fighters.