By Ryan Maquiñana
After a report surfaced that had unbeaten Filipino lightweight Mercito Gesta (24-0-1, 12 KOs) facing Jose “Chelo” Gonzalez (18-0, 13 KOs) on the Mar. 10 undercard of WBO featherweight champion Orlando Salido’s rematch with Juan Manuel Lopez in Puerto Rico, Gesta’s manager dispelled the rumor in speaking to BoxingScene.com Friday afternoon.
“That’s the first I’ve ever heard of this fight with Gonzalez in Puerto Rico,” said Vincent Parra, who also doubles as Gesta’s trainer. “Any rumor of us fighting on that undercard is completely false. I talked to [Top Rank matchmaker] Brad Goodman today and he said it’s not true. [Top Rank vice president] Carl Moretti also let me know that it’s not true and that he hasn’t heard anything about it. He didn’t give me any validity to that at all.”
While Parra said the fight would not be occurring, he did not eschew the matchup itself.
“We’d be more than happy to fight him in Las Vegas, but we’re not going to his backyard to fight him if he’s below us in the rankings,” he argued. “Unless it’s on HBO, why would I would I bring my 24-0 guy to Puerto Rico? Would we be getting neutral judges? It’s not even for a world title. He’s not even in our neighborhood right now. Whoever’s talking that is in dreamland.”
Ryan Maquiñana is the boxing correspondent for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Advisory Panel. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at www.maqdown.com, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.