By Miguel Rivera

BoxingScene.com has received confirmation that Antonio DeMarco (26-2-1, 19KOs) will make the first defense of his WBC lightweight title against Miguel "Mickey" Roman (37-9, 28 KOs) on March 17th in Los Mochis, Mexico. Televisa will broadcast the fight. The winner will have to face Jorge Linares, per the directive of the WBC.

"I just found out [that I'm fighting him] and I have taken it as extra motivation because we know that Miguel likes to fight and no one has knocked him out. We will design the right strategy which allows us to go out with his arm raised and, if by knockout, that would be best. I would be honored to finish a seasoned fighter like Roman before the limit," DeMarco said.