DeMarco vs. Molina set for Sept 8th on HBO

WBC lightweight beltholder Antonio DeMarco of Tijuana, Mexico will make his third defense against rugged John Molina of Covina, Calif., on the undercard of a main event featuring RING light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson and RING super middleweight champion Andre Ward Sept. 8 on HBO.

The action will take place from Oracle Arena in Ward's hometown of Oakland, Calif.

"DeMarco is a Mexican warrior who has shown great resilience in the ring. His hunger to stay on top will be evident in this fight," said DeMarco's promoter, Gary Shaw.

"Both DeMarco and Molina like to come forward so I expect to see some fireworks on fight night. The fans will witness one of the best fights in 2012."

DeMarco (27-2-1, 20 knockouts) will be after his fifth straight victory, and his fourth stoppage during that time, since he was stopped in the ninth round by the late Venezuelan Edwin Valero (27-0, 27 KOs) in February of 2010. DeMarco failed in his bid to earn the WBC lightweight strap in what was the final bout of Valero's career.

In October of last year, DeMarco scored a come-from-behind 11th-round knockout of former two-division beltholder Jorge Linares for the vacant title that he now owns.

"I will represent my country of Mexico with courage and honor when I step into the ring with Molina. I accomplished my dream of becoming a world champion, and now I will die in the ring to keep it," said DeMarco, 26.

"Molina is fighting for his first world title so he's going to bring a lot of heart into the ring, but my heart and desire to keep my belt will take me to victory. I will remain champion."

DeMarco, a southpaw, is coming off a fifth-round stoppage of Miguel Roman in March, but Molina, 28, says he's ready for the challenge.

"I'm glad to hear that DeMarco will have courage and honor in the ring," said Molina (24-1, 19 KOs), who scored an eight-round unanimous decision over Miguel Ángel Munguía last month.

"I will leave it all in the ring that night and I will realize my dream of becoming a world champion. I promise you, when we're done, it will be considered a fight of the year candidate. I do not anticipate this fight going 12-rounds."

Molina had scored five straight knockouts heading into his bout with Munguia, with his last loss being by unanimous decision to Marin Honorio in November of 2009.

"These are the types of fights that gets everybody's heart beating faster," said Dan Goossen, Molina's promoter. "You certainly won't see any hugging or high-fiving between these two punchers."alt

Prior to DeMarco-Molina, HBO will televise a tape-delayed defense by WBC heavyweight titleholder Vitali Klitschko (44-2, 40 KOs) against unbeaten Manuel Charr (21-0, 11 KOs), this, after the 6-foot-7 Klitschko will already have pursued his 13th straight victory in defense of his crown against the 6-4 Charr of Germany at Olympisky Sport Hall in Moscow.

Having already have taken place at night in Russia but earlier in the afternoon in America, Klitschko-Charr will be televised starting at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT as the lead-in to HBO's live showing of DeMarco-Molina, and, Ward-Dawson.

Ward (25-0, 13 KOs) will defend his RING, WBA and WBC belts against Dawson (31-1, 17 KOs).