Ernesto "Tito" Mercado fully intends to make up for long time. 

The unbeaten 140lbs contender has seen it all through his young boxing journey - enough to where he was hailed by BoxingScene as the 2023 Prospect of the Year. He expects no different when he faces Mexico's Antonio Moran this Saturday on DAZN, from Stockton Arena in Stockton, California. 

In fact, the only new experience for the 5th year pro is the amount of time he's been away from the ring. Mercado, 17-0 (16 KOs) has not fought since January 25, a near 10-month gap between fights come opening bell this weekend. A torn rotator cuff forced him off a June 14 show in New York City, but he's now fully healed and intent on handling business in his usual blink-of-an-eye manner.

"It’s kind of different for me. I’m the guy who likes to fight five or six times a year," Mercado admitted to BoxingScene of dealing with the inactivity. "It feels weird just fighting for the second time in 2025, but I was sidelined for a bit with my injury. I was lucky. I had a torn rotator cuff but didn’t need surgery.

"It sucked that I had to pull out of that fight in June. [IBF 140lbs titlist] Richardson Hitchins was in the main event and he’s definitely one of the guys I want to get to and take the belt. But physical therapy went well. I was motivated to get back in the gym so I did them as often as they would let me. I wanted to get back to one hundred percent as fast as possible. Now I’m back and fully healthy, ready to get this going again." 

Mercado's clash with Moran comes in supporting capacity to the intriguing Diego Pacheco-Kevin Lele Sadjo super middleweight battle between unbeaten contenders.

An understatement would be to say that Mercado intends to extend his current six-fight knockout streak.

The 28-year-old from Pomona, California went the distance just once in his pro career, a 10-round virtual shutout of Xolisani Ndongeni as part of his five-win, 2023 campaign that earned Top Prospect honors. The year was bookended by knockout victories over former title challengers Hank Lundy and Jeremia Nakathila. 

In his most recent encounter, Mercado took out former two-division titlist Jose Pedraza in the 4th round of their January 25 crossroads clash in Las Vegas, Nevada. The win was expected given the state of Pedraza's career to that point, though Mercado was still the quickest to get him out of there. 

A similar statement is planned for this weekend.

Moran, 31-7-1 (21 KOs) was only stopped twice in 39 pro bouts - to Devin Haney, 32-0 (15 KOs), who went on to become a three division champ; and Andy Cruz, 6-0 (3 KOs) a 2020 Olympic gold medalist who challenges for his first major pro title next month. The rugged 32-year-old Mexico City native rebounded from the Cruz defeat with an upset majority decision win over unbeaten Mykquan Williams. Their April 5 ProBox TV headliner saw Moran prevail by majority decision. 

"He’s coming off a good win, just beat an undefeated guy," noted Mercado. "Antonio Moran is one of those guys, every time you count him out he turns around and beats someone nobody thinks he’s supposed to. I’m sure he’s looking at me, another unbeaten fighter he can add to his resume.

"I expect him to go in there and make it a rugged fight, and try to give me some problem. I’m expecting to get Moran out of there quickly. I think I’m gonna take him out of there in the fourth, I’ll be honest with you."

Should the night go as expected for him, Mercado plans to return to the ring as soon as possible in 2026. Furthermore, he wants to make sure he's aligned with the division's reigning titlists.

Two 140lbs title claimants will be in action on the same night, at least if current rumors hold true.

One confirmed bout in place is lineal and WBO 140lbs champion Teofimo Lopez, 22-1 (13 KOs) who defends his crown against three-division titlist Shakur Stevenson, 24-0 (11 KOs) on January 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Rumored to grace the undercard is Hitchins in the 2nd defense of his IBF 140lbs title. 

Mercado is ranked with both the IBF (No. 10) and the WBO (No. 14). His fight with Moran comes with a WBO regional title at stake, hardly a coincidence.

"I’m fighting for a WBO [regional] belt now, so I expect to move up the rankings quickly and be in line for that belt," Mercado pointed out.

Of course, he'd still need for a few more things to properly fall into place. One, in particular, is the outcome of that bout.

"If Teofimo wins, it’s definitely motivating because I do believe he’d fight me. If Shakur gets that belt – he’s already said in the past that he wouldn’t fight me. At the time, he dismissed me because I was 140 and he was still 135. So, my fear would be that he wins and goes back to 135. I feel like I won’t get the winner unless it’s Teofimo."

That said, none of that will matter if things don't go his way on Saturday.

Mercado is a healthy -1400 favorite to prevail, according to bet365 which lists Moran as a +900 underdog. The odds are literally in his favor, so the trick - as he sees it - is to not turn this into a trap fight.

"This fight is just about being me," Mercado insists. "The only thing I don’t need to allow to happen is this guy dragging me into his fight. I just gotta be me and it will be an easy night. I got it all – speed, experience, power.

"Honestly, I just gotta keep doing what I do. I’ve been just touching these guys and they’re going to sleep."

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.