Comments Thread For: Matchroom signs 140-pound 'wrecking machine' Ernesto 'Tito' Mercado

[BrankoB]

22 and he does have stand-out names: Velez, Lundy, Nakathila. His resume looks good on the surface, but we have no clue how good he is. Hopefully Matchroom will remedy that. He's consistently fighting smaller and older opponents. Clearly he has power, and guys with power need stiffer opposition. Put him in there with guys like Campa, Ponce, and Tagoe.

I hope you are right, but I am not sure about Fast Eddie giving him a lot of quality fights. Look at what he is doing with Shakur and Boots. Lots of promises about big names and then delivers soft touches. I have a feeling Eddie is a bit stingy when it comes to paying for quality opposition and building a fighter into a star. Probably not willing to make an investment in the future and purely looks at profit and loss of each individual fight card.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with that - it is his business afterall, but even uncle Bob was willing to invest and make short term losses on Bud Crawford in the hope on building him into a big star.

[kiaba360]

I hope you are right, but I am not sure about Fast Eddie giving him a lot of quality fights. Look at what he is doing with Shakur and Boots. Lots of promises about big names and then delivers soft touches. I have a feeling Eddie is a bit stingy when it comes to paying for quality opposition and building a fighter into a star. Probably not willing to make an investment in the future and purely looks at profit and loss of each individual fight card.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with that - it is his business after all, but even uncle Bob was willing to invest and make short term losses on Bud Crawford in the hope on building him into a big star.

Mercado is at a different stage of his career than Shakur/Ennis. He's still a young prospect, so more experienced opponents will be willing to step up and take his 0. We don't know the length of the contract either, which can affect how quickly MR decides to increase his quality of opposition. I assume MR will give him one gimme fight. Ennis' stay-busy fight was Avanesyan (who replaced Crowley) and Shakur's gimme is Cordina. The problem is that not all 'gimme' fights are equal.

TR is usually strict with their budget too. Several fighters left them because they hit a $$$ ceiling. Arum invested in Crawford and then notoriously complained later on: https://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.p...59490#p5459490

[landotter]

I always find it strange when someone is listed as a "prospect", but people criticize his level of opposition.

He is a kid still learning to box. He needs to improve, needs to learn how to train, needs guidance. Hence... "prospect". He seems to have a good head on his shoulders. No, we have no idea how good he can be. But if he is fed to sharks to early, we will see him get ruined. The fact he is getting signed by a major player means he is ready to step up, but no rush. I hate to see kids get destroyed for moving to fast almost as much as I hate to see older boxers fighting for too long past their primes.