By James Blears

A needle causing a rash of irritation has already crept into the pre-fight banter between WBC lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco, and his upcoming challenger, fellow Mexican Daniel Estrada.

During a conference call at the WBC headquarters in Mexico City’s Zona Rosa, Tony (27-2-1, 20 KO’s) was generous in his assessment of his compatriot. He said Daniel is strong, experienced and hungry. The voluntary defense, which is scheduled for July 28th in Rosarito, Baja California will be all the more keenly contested, because it’s between two Mexicans.

Fifth ranked Daniel (28-2-1, 21 KO’s) who’s from the State of Mexico, attended the presser. He praised Tony as a worthy champion. But egged on by the national press, he also retorted that if there’s going to be any KO, it’ll be delivered by him. This drew roars of laughter from the champion, who thanked him for providing all the more motivation in the training phase.

Daniel, who’s been altitude training at the Nevada De Toluca summed up the edgy atmosphere by commenting: “This is the most important fight of my life. We’re fighting on his home turf, but up in the ring, it’s just going to be the two of us.

“He’s very determined and has the experience of a world champion, but we’re going to capitalize on his mistakes with the best strategy. It’s always difficult to predict a knockout, but I always go into a fight with that mindset. And I’m going to give absolutely everything to become champion of the world.”

If DeMarco wins, he will defend the belt against John Molina Jr. on September 8 in an HBO televised fight.