Shots have been fired, but Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta (25-0-1, 13 KOs) is not one to clap back?at least not with his mouth.
Ty Barnett (20-2-1, 13 KOs), Gesta’s August 3 date for ESPN’s Friday Night Fights feature at the Texas Station Casino in Las Vegas, has openly criticized the undefeated 24-year-old Filipino slugger from Mandaue City Cebu. In an interview with this scribe, Barnett called Gesta “overrated” and promised to “expose” him.
Barnett’s comments were greeted with a smile by the Gesta camp. “That’s good,” Gesta’s co-manger and trainer Vince Parra said, and added, “We like the talk. We just hope he backs it up in the ring.”
“I don’t really do a lot of trash talking,” Gesta said in an interview we did for Fil-Am TV while he trained in National City this week. “I just train hard and focus on what I need to do. We’ll see what happens in the ring,” he continued.
Gesta has been working hard and learning new techniques with his father Anecito in camp. “We are trying to really improve on his speed and quickness,” Anecito told me. “We are also developing his left, as well as adding power to his right, which is his primary weapon,” he added. “We have a lot more to learn and work on, but I am happy in the progress Mercito has made. Barnett’s comments couldn’t have come at a better timing. Gesta expressed his frustrations, awaiting for a big fight, and knows he has to win impressively to force his promoter’s hand to finally put him in a title fight or against big-named opponent. “I’m get tired of waiting and waiting for a big fight, but all I can do is keep working hard and win convincingly,” Gesta said. The trash-talking, slick, African-American from D.C. may very well bring the extra motivation and serve as the measuring stick for Gesta’s future.
