Top Rank’s Mercito Gesta in Position to Capitalize

Bob Arum may just have landed the next superstar to come from the fertile boxing region of the Pacific Rim with Top Rank’s signing of fast rising lightweight Pinoy sensation Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta (21-0-1, 11KOs) of San Diego by way of Mandaue City, Cebu, Philippines, to a 4-year promotional contract Wednesday morning. Gesta, who’s not widely recognized outside his region, has been on the precipice of stardom while patiently waiting for his time. Now the waiting’s over and “No Mercy” can alleviate the anxieties of negotiations and solely focus on the goal at hand, the world stage.

“I feel good man, I feel like this is it and all I need to do is train, I’m ready for big opportunities,” said Mercito, 23, when we spoke on Thursday night following the whirlwind media coverage concerning the union. “I’m happy with the contract and feel comfortable with the offer, this is it, everything feels right. Bob Arum is a nice man and we met with him to talk, so that meant a lot.”

Before the ink was dry on Mercito’s new pact with the wily old man and Top Rank, he was in negotiations with Arum’s archrival [at least until their so-called Twitter truce] Golden Boy Promotions headed by recent rehab admittant Oscar De La Hoya. What fell through with Golden Boy could be a blessing in disguise considering De La Hoya’s recent personal struggles [which I praise Oscar for facing head on and wish him a speedy recovery] and the fact that Top Rank’s busting Golden Boy up [in terms of acquiring talent] by creating a fistic monopoly on the 140-154lb divisions using Manny Pacquiao as a lure to corner the market. Paul Magno of The Boxing Tribune lays it out in his piece “Arum Using Pacquiao as Leverage in Boxing Power-Grab” and was right on the money with his assessment.

“Being part of Top Rank is really good for me because I know they can promote me very well, they’re the best. It’s good for them too, Manny [Pacquiao] is Filipino and I’m Filipino. Manny isn’t going to be around that much longer, he’s a politician and he’s getting a little older. I’m waiting to be the next one to represent the Philippines and Bob Arum knows how to get me there,” intoned Gesta who is ranked as the #2 lightweight by the WBO.

Golden Boy may have the HBO TV dates but Top Rank has the opponents and is baiting more and more fighters to jump their respective ships with each passing month in hopes of landing a five million dollar Pacman payday. With Top Rank swallowing up a plethora of the marquee names from 140-154, it opens up a Pandora box of potential opponents for Gesta considering he’ll probably spend a good portion of his career in those weights divisions. For now though Mercito must show he can handle the big names at lightweight such as Brandon Rios, Miguel Acosta, Robert Guerrero, Humberto Soto etc…, which the southpaw phenom is chomping at the bit to prove.

When I pointed this out to the Filipino firecracker and asked him if there were any big names in particular he would like to fight from 135 to 154 in the future, his focus seeped through his words, “No I do not think about that right now, I am focused on fighting. The plan for me right now is to win my upcoming fight on July 9th and if I do that, there’s talk and possible plans for me to fight for a world title, not sure but maybe Miguel Vasquez [IBF Lightweight Champion]. After that fight, then maybe I’ll think about who I want in the future but for now I’m just focused on training.”

The July 9th fight card scheduled for the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, is headlined by Brandon Rios’ first defense of his WBA lightweight title against Urbano Antillon. Gesta is scheduled against the always dangerous TBA.

“No Mercy,” who has star power written all over him, is a left-handed speedster who operates like a surgeon with a deep bag of tricks. Mercito has power in both hands [reducing 7 of his last 8 foes to rubble] and is an elusive shifty scrapper who displays crunching body shots and dizzying combinations conceived from a fighting pedigree. Gesta hones his skills under San Diego trainer and co-manager Vince Parra as well as Hollywoods famed Freddie Roach who usually helps Gesta and Parra in the weeks leading up to his fights. While Mercito waits for that next big call from the boss, he continues to work on the subtle nuances of the fight game under Vince and Freddie who are refining Gesta’s abundance of raw talent while adding knowledge and experience to his memory bank. So when that phone rings Gesta will be ready for action.

Nobody builds a fighter from the ground up like Top Rank’s marketing machine and Arum’s independent PPV shows do well. With this acquisition the Las Vegas based promotional company has yet another young star to bolster a Top Rank “Pinoy Power” fight card if they so choose. Top Rank promotes many young Filipinos but none with the potential star power of Gesta.

So while another tremendous fighting Filipino in Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire sits on the bench waiting for legality issues to formalize so he can leave Top Rank for Golden Boy, Arum has moved on, possibly finding the next big star of Philippine boxing, a moniker Nonito will have a hard time fulfilling anyways. While Donaire is undoubtedly a virtuoso fighter, he has a difficult time relating to his countrymen being that he grew up in America and the fact that there appears to be a rift between the countries beloved Pacquiao camp versus the Donaire camp doesn’t help Nonito’s cause.

On the other hand, Mercito has all the trappings of a future idol on Philippine soil. Aside from this marvel of his thrilling skill set, Mercito is a nice, polite, good looking kid with a high-wattage smile and a certain swagger and hipness about him that relates well to his generation. Gesta brings a good following for a relatively unknown fighter and with his new platform guided by a marketing genius in Arum, Mercito’s contingency will grow exponentially. Dennis “dSource” Guillermo of The Examiner website was quoted describing Mercito as, “the prettiest Filipino fighter you’ve seen,” while also relaying the fact that he believes Gesta’s ready for anybody.

While Gesta hasn’t really been tested and is an unproven commodity, he could be in the ring against a shadow without it taking a rocket scientist to realize his amazing ability and potential.

There’s been a buzz over the last year about a possible showdown pitting Gesta against the unbeaten, unfiltered and brash WBA lightweight Champion Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios of Oxnard California by way of Kansas. When Rios got word that Gesta had called him out, he had some advice for Mercito via “dSource.”, “Man work your way up, fight tough guys, I’m not scared of you,” while adding, “he [Gesta] ain’t shit to me.”

When speaking of Rios or any fighter for that matter, Gesta is respectful but confident. When I inquired whether he’d be ready to fight “Bam Bam” if the call came tomorrow, his response was swift and without hesitation, “Anytime, anytime. I’m ready for that fight.” Going a step further Gesta insisted, “I’m ready for the big names and I want to fight the best. People keep saying I haven’t fought anybody but nobody wants to fight me, I’ve been saying their names. I understand they also want the big names so I’ll just keep winning until they want to fight me. I’m going to prove that I can hang with them. I respect Brandon Rios and every fighter. This is not an easy job but my only job is to fight the best. Whoever they put in front of me I will accept and try my best to win that fight.”

Gesta’s career is young with an engine that’s revving and ready to put its stamp out there. Mercito himself is young but he shows no signs of being intimidated by the flashy names and heavy hitters like Rios and the rest. This Southern California pugilist is no stranger to knocking out toughs as he’s been doing it since his early teenage years in kickboxing, putting men to sleep courtesy of a single kick to the skull. Whether it’s with his fist or his feet, Gesta was born to scrap.

Mercito’s trainer Vince Parra, feels Gesta is a man apart when it comes to fisticuffs and couldn’t be happier with the new situation, “We feel Top Rank had the best offer for Mercito and will give him a chance to challenge the best in his division.” The up-and-coming trainer added, “we feel that Top Rank has made a great signing in Mercito, he’s looking forward to showing them what he’s got.”

Gesta isn’t looking to become the next Manny Pacquiao but the first and only Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta. Inevitably though the comparisons come up time and time again and it’s hard to imagine the wheels not turning in Arum’s head about a possible replacement for the punching politician. With Arum acquiring much of the competition thanks to his pound for pound spearhead, he has the pins lined up for his newest star. Mercito just has to knock ’em down.

Upon my inquiry about what Top Rank meant to Mercito Gesta, his response was enthusiastic, “A world title, it would mean a lot to me to bring a championship back to San Diego and the Philippines. Now that I’m with Top Rank they can give me that opportunity. To take a world title back to my family especially my dad. It’s not only my dream but my parents dream as well. It would be so big.”