Jessie Vargas Overcomes DeMarco in a War of Wills

Jessie Vargas vs Antonio DeMarco — Jessie Vargas Overcomes DeMarco in a War of Wills. Photos Sumio Yamada

Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macau, China – WBA super lightweight champion Jessie Vargas (26-0, 9KOs) won a twelve round unanimous decision over Antonio DeMarco (31-4-1, 23KOs), the former WBC champion at 135-pounds. All three judges had it 116-112.

This was Vargas’ first fight with new trainer Roy Jones Jr. DeMarco had Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach in his corner.

They started at a measured pace to feel each other out. In the second round, a clash of heads opened up a cut under the left eye of Vargas. They started getting more physical in the third with DeMarco having the edge with the bigger shots. Vargas was finding DeMarco is the fourth with accurate power shots. DeMarco’s nose and mouth was bleeding.

DeMarco was stunned and taking punishment in the fifth, as Vargas continued to unload with hard combinations. During the seventh, DeMarco started to rally and was landing some very good shots to the head. Vargas was getting busted up in the final twenty seconds.

They started going to war in the eight. The battle of punches was creating a lot of damage on the face of DeMarco. In the ninth, DeMarco rocked Vargas with a big counter and they once again started trading hard punches with both hands. Midway through the tenth, DeMarco stunned Vargas again and the champion’s face was becoming a mess. They were trading big shot and Vargas was able to fight DeMarco off.

Vargas was sharpshooting in the eleventh, landing some big punches on DeMarco, who took them very well. DeMarco was trying to land something big in the twelfth and final round, but he was unable to put something together as Vargas outboxed him.

In a battle of undefeated junior middleweight prospects with near identical records, Kuok Kun Ng (6-0, 2KOs) won a six round unanimous decision over Steve Attard (5-1-2, 2KOs). The scores were 57-56, 57-56, 59-54. Ng suffered a bad cut from a clash of heads in the second and it continued to bother him throughout the fight.

Chinese super flyweight prospect Rex Tso (15-0, 9KOs) had a tougher than expected outing in winning an eight round unanimous decision over Espinos Sabu (11-3-1, 5KOs). Sabu took as good as he got and made it a very competitive contest. The three judges saw it 79-73, 78-74, 78-74.

Filipino super flyweight contender Jerwin Ancajas (22-1-1, 14KOs) scored a third round knockout over Fadhili Majiha (15-6-4, 7KOs) after landing a big left hand that sent Majiha down for the full count.