Gesta's trainer: Rios' style tailor-made for my guy

Unbeaten lightweight contender Mercito Gesta's trainer believes his ward's fighting style could end reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight champion Brandon Rios' unbeaten record. The 23-year-old Gesta is coming off a third-round knockout win over Mexican Jorge Pimentel last week in one of the undercard bouts of Rios' 12-round WBA lightweight title defense against Urbano Antillon. Rios also scored a third-round victory opposite Antillon at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. "All respect to Brandon Rios who put on a hell of a fight with Urbano Antillon, he's a beast and all the above. He's the best lightweight in the world, but man, I watched that fight over and over and his style is tailor made for my guy," said Parra. Parra added he's not expecting the fight to happen soon, for business reasons. "That's the kind of fight you have to build up over a period of time. Mercito has some proving to do, he has some fights to win." "But for me in all honesty, Mercito handles him. People are gonna call me crazy, but that's just what I see. Rios is a hell of a fighter, but what Mercito needs is a guy like Rios to just bring out the best in him." Both Rios (28-0-1, 21 KO) and Gesta (22-0-1, 12 KO) are promoted by Bob Arum's Top Rank Inc., which makes it easier to make the fight happen. Rios' trainer not keen on Gesta Rios' trainer Roberto Garcia - who also guides world bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. and former welterweight champ Antonio Margarito - is dismissive of Parra's claims. "We're looking at bigger and better things. We're talking about unifying the title, fighting the best like Juan Manuel Marquez and Marc Antonio Barrera. What does [Gesta] bring to the table?" "I know Mercito doesn't wanna be in the ring with Brandon Rios, that's just the manager saying that," said Garcia. "Right now, everyone wants a shot at Brandon because he's the world champion, but Mercito's not even in his league." Instead, Garcia challenged Gesta to face another of his pupils - Rolando Reyes. Reyes, 31-4-2 (20 KO) - who hasn't fought in two years, but has not dropped a match since suffering a unanimous decision loss to Jose Luis Castillo on February 4, 2006. "If Gesta beats him, then we'll give him a shot at Brandon," said Garcia. Parra welcomed Garcia's challenge. "Rolando Reyes who struggled to a decision with Ivan Valle, who we took out in two? Sure, lets do it!" - JVP, GMA News Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMA News and the Filipino Reporter newspaper in New York City. 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.