By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Undefeated Mercito Gesta, one of the promising young Filipino fighters campaigning in the US has won his fourth straight bout, beating Cristian Favila at the Casino del Sol in Tucson, Arizona.
The 21 year old southpaw won on the scorecards of all three judges by lopsided margins of 79-71 and 79-73 on the cards of the two other judges. With the win Gesta improved to 14-0-1 with 5 knockouts while Favila dropped to 16-17-5 with 10 knockouts.
Gesta was coming off a first round knockout of Benito Zepeda last April 18 in the same venue.
Well-known boxing analyst Moy Lainez said Gesta was "a good fighter and an excellent counter-puncher" who was taken to America by WBO bantamweight champion Gerry Penalosa.
The Favila fight was Gesta’s fourth since he opened his US campaign with a majority decision over Carlos Madrid in Rosemont, Illinois on August 4, 2007.
It was Favila’s seventh fight this year in which he has won three and lost three with one draw.
Favila who lost an unanimous eight round decision to Czar Amonsot on February 3, 2006 has taken on the best lightweights in his career including former world champion David Diaz, IBF champion Javier Jauregui and Steven Luevano the reigning IBF world featherweight champion among others.
