Mercito Gesta had a new member in training camp preparing for this fight. Father , Anecito Gesta came all the way from Phillipines to help his son ? It paid of as rising Filipino star scored an eighth round knock out over Colombian, Oscar Cuero and dominated the opening bout at the Manadalay Bay Event Center on Saturday . It was an ugly fight and a vey awkward opponent, but Gesta demonstrated his maturity and boxing skills.
Southpaw Gesta attacked from the onset, but his opponent, Cuero did not want to engage; he moved back and to the side avoiding contact which made for a slow first stanza. Gesta intensified his attack in the second and landed a right hook that hurt Colombian veteran who proceeded to grab which caused a warning from referee, Robert Byrd. Two people are required for a dance and Colombian fighter did not want to dance; he grabbed and slipped and hit on the break and did everything but fight . Action escalated a little in the fourth round a little because Cuero finally decided to fire back. Feats looked a lot more comfortable in the fifth as if he had finally solved the puzzle of tricky Colombian fighter. Mercito landed some very telling blows in that stanza. Referee Robert Byrd finally took a point away from Cuero for holding at the end of the fifth stanza. desperately behind on the score cards Colombian veteran came out with renewed aggression in the sixth. Advertisement \ Right hook to the body followed by left hook to the head finally dropped Cuero in the seventh, but Gesta could not finish the job. No Mercy Gesta finished it in the next round with another hard right hook to the body. Cuero went down and referee Robert Byrd waved off the contest at 1:38 of the the eighth.
