Jose Alfaro Guarantees His Fight Against Antonio Demarco 'Will Be a War'

Nicaraguan Jose Alfaro goes after his fourth straight victory, and his 21st knockout, on Saturday night when faces Mexican southpaw Antonio Demarco in their 135-pound clash at Treasure Island Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

Alfaro (23-4, 20 knockouts) is attempting to line himself up for another shot at the WBA lightweight crown, which he won in December of 2007 by split decision over Thailand's Prawet Singwancha.

Alfaro, however, was promptly dethroned by Japan's Yusuke Kobori, who stopped him in the third round of his first defense in May of 2008.

"The road to success is a hard one. That is why I have been training like a mad man in the gym. Demarco is an excellent boxer. I have seen a couple of his fights. But he will have to give it his all if he plans to stop me from getting that title," said 25-year-old Alfaro.

"I have a little more experience than him. Therefore, I have been training to be able to show up in the best physical shape of my life," said Alfaro. "A strong presentation here will open up a whole bunch of opportunities for me."

Alfaro (23-4, 20 knockouts) and Demarco (22-1, 16 KOs) are the No. 2 and No. 1 contenders, respectively, to the WBA lightweight crown held by Namibia's Paulus Moses (25-0, 17 KOs).

Moses, 31, dethroned Kobori (pictured) by unanimous decision in January and defended his crown the same way over Japan's Takehiro Shimada in July.

Alfaro-Demarco will take place on the undercard of Saturday's IBF, 118-pound battle between bantamweight champion, Joseph Agbeko (27-1, 22 KOs) of Accra, Ghana, and Yonnhy Perez (19-0, 14 KOs) of Colombia. The fights will be televised on Showtime.

Alfaro's sparring has included southpaws Santos Benavides (16-2-2, 13 KOs), Moises Solis (15-1, 12), Wilfredo Acuna (13-6, nine), and, Eduardo Mendoza (3-0, three) -- all of whom are from Nicaragua.

Mendoza is a former amateur stand out and Panamerican bronze medal winner.

"My training sessions are very exhaustive with four-minute rounds and 30-second rest periods. Every two rounds, a new boxer comes in," said Alfaro. "All of this training forces me to constantly be putting pressure on my opponent. I can't afford to have a bad round."

Since losing a six-round, majority decision to Anthony Vasquez in February of 2006, the 23-year-old Demarco is 14-0-1, with nine knockouts.

"Demarco is hungry as well," said Alfaro. "Therefore, I guarantee that this will be a war."