Mercito Gesta vs. Joel Diaz Jr. was an absolute slugfest

Joel Diaz Jr. and Mercito Gesta met in Indio, California for a 10-round welterweight showdown on Thursday night. Gesta went into the bout with a record of 33-3-3 with 17 knockouts. Diaz Jr. had a record of 26-3 with 22 knockouts.

Gesta, who was coming off a two-and-a-half year layoff, was a major underdog going into the bout. However, he was awarded the victory by unanimous decision when the final bell rang.

Almost as soon as the first bell sounded, the fight was a toe-to-toe brawl, which quickly became one of the most exciting bouts of the year. It was yet another reminder that the best fights in boxing are often not the heavily marketed title fights between world champions.

Mercito Gesta came out of the corner with vicious intentions. He met Diaz Jr. in the middle of the ring and put him on the canvas twice in quick succession. This caused the commentators to anticipate an early knockout victory.

However, Joel Diaz Jr. did not resign himself to defeat. He got off the canvas and forced Gesta back to the ropes with furious combinations, delivering a flurry of hooks and uppercuts.

In the third and fourth rounds, Diaz Jr. managed to keep relative control of the fight by using his reach advantage to maintain range. Eventually, Gesta's infighting skills paid off as he worked his way back into the fight.

In the seventh round, Diaz Jr. was pummeled with vicious blows but stayed standing. He came back in the eighth with damaging combinations of his own. The fight was toe-to-toe until the end of the 10th round.

In the end, Mercito Gesta was the winner on all three scorecards, leading to a unanimous decision victory.

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Who is Mercito Gesta?

Mercito Gesta was considered the underdog prior to the bout. Diaz Jr. was coming off a knockout victory over Francisco Gabriel Pina in 2021. Meanwhile, Gesta had not stepped into the ring since 2019. Diaz Jr.'s former opponents include Regis Prograis, Tyler Asselstine, and Joaquim Carneiro.

Gesta's last bout was against Carlos Morales, which ended in a draw. Prior to that, he was knocked out by Juan Antonio Rodriguez. In 2018, he lost to Jorge Linares, who has fought the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Devin Haney, and Luke Campbell.

For much of his career, Gesta has been considered a fringe contender, fighting at the so-called 'B-level' in boxing. He unsuccessfully challenged for the IBF and WBA Lightweight World titles in 2012 and 2018, respectively. The 2012 challenge was against Miguel Vázquez. The fight was on the undercard of the fourth fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Márquez, where the Filipino legend was infamously knocked out in the last second of the sixth round.