Gesta eyes bigger fights in 2011

While Mercito "No Mercy" Gesta's most recent victory over Ivan Valle might not constitute a "major test," it certainly was a pop quiz that the 23-year-old lightweight prospect passed with flying colors. Gesta, now 20-0-1 (10 knockouts), scored two knockdowns in the opening round against Valle (28-10-3, 24 KO) before the Los Mochis, Mexico native's corner threw in the towel at 26 seconds of the second round. The fight took place at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Gesta's adopted hometown of San Diego, California. "I'm happy because all of the training we had paid off and I had a good performance," said Gesta, a native of Mandaue City, Philippines. "Now I'm looking forward to big fights in 2011." Vincent Parra, Gesta's co-manager and head trainer, says they are going to sit down with current promoter Don Chargin and set up a co-promotion deal with Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. "He's taking a rest and is done for the year," says Parra, who himself was a former professional fighter. Parra is eyeing potential step-up bouts with fighters under the Golden Boy banner, including former champions Jorge Barrios and Jesus Chavez, or faded contender Ricardo "Rocky" Juarez. Of that group, only the Argentinian Barrios (No. 6) is ranked higher than Gesta (No. 13) by the World Boxing Organization (WBO), which is the only ratings group that lists the Filipino among its Top 15 contenders. Coincidentally, both Gesta and Parra have expressed interest in challenging the winner of the WBO/WBA lightweight title fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and Michael Katsidis, who are both under Golden Boy Promotions. They aren't rushing ahead of themselves, though. "We want to make a title fight, but we also want to make it lucrative," Parra says. "We're trying to build him up to be a 5,000-8,000 ticket seller in San Diego and be a star." For the Valle fight, Gesta sold out the estimated 1,100-capacity venue with approximately 90 percent of the audience being Filipino. The rise in popularity of Gesta was bolstered by his appearance earlier in October at a San Diego Filipino-American Festival. It also doesn't hurt that Gesta is the only major prospect in a city known for its pro baseball and football teams. Gesta is waiting for his passport to be renewed so he can go on vacation in the Philippines, a home country he hasn't seen in three years. There he will be reunited with the family he helps support, including his younger brother whose college education he helps subsidize. "My last fight was a good one so they'll be excited to see me." - JVP/KY, GMANews.TV Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to GMANews.TV. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ryansongalia.