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Philippines, 22 Mar 2026 |
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GESTA SPARS WITH AMIR KHAN, LOOKS GOOD By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Sun, 19 Jun 2011  Undefeated Filipino southpaw Mercito ?No Mercy? Gesta (21-0-1, 11 KO?s) has been sparring with WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and has looked good. Gesta is training at Freddie Roach?s Wild Card gym for his Top Rank debut on July 9 on the undercard of the WBA lightweight title fight between champion Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios and challenger Urbano Antillon at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. In an overseas telephone conversation with the Daily Inquirer, Gesta?s co-manager and trainer Vince Parra said the 23 year old Gesta who went four rounds with the 24 year old Khan on Saturday, Manila Time. ?looked really good today. He got his respect. Mercito came out and showed his speed and was very competitive, very high-paced. He is showing his ability. It was very fast and they were right there with each other, back and forth.? Parra said sparring with world champion Khan was ?good for the learning experience and regular sparring will help (Gesta) step up to the next level.? Gesta sparred two rounds with Khan last Wednesday and Parra said ?they got their first week of sparring out of the way and next week its going to heat up even more.? With almost three weeks left to train at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles before his fight, Parra said Gesta ?will be ready for anybody. With that kind of sparring and preparation he feels very confident.? Strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza who is back with Amir Khan after an earlier misunderstanding told the Inquirer he thinks Gesta ?is very good. It was the first time he worked with somebody that was fast.? Ariza said ?I like his footwork, I like his speed. The first time is always difficult with Amir because they?ll get shocked by his speed. But Gesta fights very well, he moves well and he looks big and strong.? He said Gesta will begin working with him and Khan in the mornings and would ?do some condition stuff.? Khan (25-1, 17 KO?s) faces veteran southpaw Zab Judah (41-6, 28 KO?s) on July 23 at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in a WBA light welterweight super world title and IBF light welterweight title fight. Top photo: Gesta (R) with Vince Parra at the Wildcard Gym. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.  |
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