Valero beats DeMarco into submission in Monterrey

Though he showed a ton of heart and a tremendous chin, Antonio DeMarco just didn't have enough tonight in Monterrey, quitting after nine rounds of action against WBC lightweight titlist Edwin Valero.

Valero (27-0, 27 KO) suffered an awful gash on his forehead in the second round due to an accidental elbow, which cost DeMarco a point. It was the only round of the fight I had DeMarco winning, so he even wound up even in that round. Otherwise, it was Valero's constant pressure, big left hands and ever-improving overall skill that ruled the night.

DeMarco (23-2-1, 17 KO) did not really make a bad showing for himself. At 24, he's still got a terrific future, and he probably learned plenty in this fight. And again, Valero barely budged him, and if Valero can't hurt you landing clean power shots (at least not in a major way), your chin is probably going to be good for a while.

The fight wound up being one-sided overall, but it was interesting to watch both guys operate. DeMarco just never got out of the gates offensively, while Valero simply got better as the fight went on. Eventually, DeMarco was just exhausted, and after nine rounds, they decided to stop it in his corner.

After the fight, DeMarco apologized to Valero for the elbow, and congratulated him, raising his hand when the particulars were announced by Jimmy Lennon Jr., and Valero returned the kindness by saying how much he respected DeMarco when interviewed by Steve Farhood.

In the co-feature, Carlos Abregu stayed unbeaten with a 10-round decision win over Richard Gutierrez in an action-packed fight. Both hit the canvas, Abregu in the second and Gutierrez in the third. Official scores were 98-90, 97-91 and 97-91 for Abregu. I had it a 94-94 draw, and press row on Showtime had the fight much closer than the official scores as well.