Undefeated Mercito ?No Mercy? Gesta, the hard-hitting southpaw is ready to counter whatever Ty Barnett does when they clash on ESPN?s Friday Night Fights at the Texas Station Casino in Las Vegas on August 3.
Gesta?s trainer and co-manager Vince Parra told the Manila Standard ?whatever he ( Barnett) tries to do, we?ll do better than him. We expect him to come out and go toe-to-toe or box so we are prepared for both.?
He said ?whatever he wants to do its up to him. We are not looking to adjust to Ty Barnett , we?re going to make Barnett adjust to Mercito.?
Parra spoke to us from the Top Rank Gym in Las Vegas where Gesta was ?shedding off a couple of pounds of water but we are right on schedule. The weight (for the fight) is at 137 and we?ve been finishing off steadily, its 138-139 so weight is not going to be an issue.?
He said Gesta?s ?condition looks great. He?s been in the gym for a while. We had a couple of letdowns with the (Juan Manuel) Marquez fight falling through but hr?s stayed focused and did a lot of mountain running.?
Parra went on, ?I?m sorry to tell Mr. Barnett that Gesta has not overlooked him and he?s treating this as he would treat any of the top guys. So we are looking forward to an excellent performance.?
The trainer said Gesta had sparred about 90 rounds and has been ?looking sharp in his last few weeks of sparing where he went 10 and 12 rounds with three different guys with the lightest being a welterweight.?
Parra said the sparring partners were 6 feet, 5?9? and 5? 10? tall to ?prepare for a strong guy but we feel we are the stronger guy and Mercito is looking forward to showcasing his talent on ESPN.?
Two of the primary sparring partners were junior middleweight prospect David Barragon and former All-Navy welterweight champion James Taylor. Parra described them as ?strong, big, tough kids.?
Parra revealed that Gesta?s father Anecito has been ?a great help. He motivates Mercito. He is not a boxing guy per se because he?s a Muay Thai guy but he understands technique, combat and he understands pointing out weaknesses so he?s been a great motivating factor in the gym. He inspires him.?
Anecito Gesta himself told us he is ?very happy and doing well? since he joined his son in the US. He said ?his training has been very good and I?m happy because there are so many pinoys here? (in San Diego where they live).
The 24 year old Gesta has a record of 25-0-1 with 13 knockouts and is coming off an 8th round TKO of Oscar Cuero whom he dropped in rounds 7 and 8 last April 14.
Barnett who is 29 is a couple of inches taller than Gesta and has a record of 20-2-1 with 13 knockouts.
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