Mercito Gesta is Looking at a Bright Future in Boxing
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Undefeated Filipino southpaw Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta has taken out one of two opponents he had to beat before his team believes he’ll be ready to face WBO interim champion Michael Katsidis (27-2, 22 KO’s) of Australia.
The 22 year old Gesta toyed around with Mexican journeyman Genaro Trazcanos in the early rounds, hurt him in the third and fourth and when his corner told him to step it up and take his opponent out Gesta did just that, dropping Trazcanos for the full count at :53 seconds of the 7th round to improve his record to 19-0 with 9 knockouts while his opponent dropped to 22-12-1 with 13 knockouts.
In a post fight interview with Inquirer Sports from the Casino del Sol in Tucson, Arizona, Gesta said “when my corner told me to finish him off I moved forward and finished him with a left straight.”
Gesta said he was happy that he “got a good workout over seven rounds and I could take his best shots. I hurt him in the third and fourth rounds and then moved around before I went after him and finished him off in round seven.”
The WBO North American Boxing Organization lightweight champion said he is likely to defend his title on September 24 or October 1 and after a brief rest would get back to the gym in San Diego and train “because the next fight is pretty close.”
The promising youngster from Cebu said he will be ready to defend his crown and was very happy for his parents Anecito and Mercedes who watched the fight fed to them on the internet by a sister Daisy who is a nurse in Florida.
His co-manager Vince Parra said “Mercito did his job. It took him a little longer but he wanted to get the work and he finished real well.” Parra said Gesta was “toying around a little bit but when it was time to step it up he did. You have to give Trazcanos credit. He took a lot of hard shots and he tried hard but Mercito proved he could take somebody out in the late rounds.”
He said Gesta was “happy, he’s clean, no bumps, no bruises and we all feel good.” Parra earlier said that after his NABO title defense arranged by Gesta’s promoter Don Chargin, “we are going after Michael Katsidis.”
Parra conceded that a Katsidis fight “is somewhat of a long shot because he is chasing the big names for the big money but we feel with the next two fights and some good performances Golden Boy will get behind us to make the fight happen. They are talking about as early as January 11 and we hope to be fighting Katsidis for the WBO crown.”
The co-manager said that since his last fight on June 4 this year when he forced talented and tough Oscar “Estudiante” Meza (19-3, 17 KO’s) retire in the 4th round to win the WBO NABO title, Gesta has “gotten into a strength training program and I’m very proud of him.”
Parra noted that the young Filipino who fights out of San Diego and improved his record to 19-0-1 with 9 knockouts has “really stepped up his work ethic. He knows that success is close and right now he is very focused on just this next fight.”
Parra said Gesta is confident he can beat Katsidis while he himself is certain that Gesta “can out-box him for sure and fully dominate him with good boxing and natural hand-speed.”
Gesta looked impressive in taking on two top-notch sparring partners of pound-for-pound king and fellow Filipino southpaw Manny Pacquiao, welterweight Abdullah Amidu who has a record of 18-0 with 17 knockouts and Raymund Beltran who sports a record of 23-4 with 15 knockouts in his preparation for the Trazcanos fight.
Parra told us he was very pleased with the sparring and the manner in which he handled both experienced and tough fighters and indicated “it’s just a matter of time before people realize how talented Mercito is.”
