LIGHTWEIGHT sensation Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta (24W-0L-1D, 12 KOs) of Mandaue City kept his undefeated streak intact by beating veteran Ricardo Dominguez (34W-8L-2D, 21 KOs) of Mexico yesterday at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel in Las Vegas.
The Cebuano southpaw leaned on his superior speed, counter punching and power to beat Dominguez by unanimous decision over 10 rounds. Gesta knocked down Dominguez in round three and won comfortably by scores of 99-91, 98-92, 97-92.
In the co-main event, Diego Magdaleno (21W-0, 7KOs) of Las Vegas crushed Emmanuel Lucero (26W-8L-1D, 14 KOs) of Mexico also by unanimous decision. Lucero was the same fighter knocked out in the third round by Manny Pacquiao in an IBF superbantamweight title fight in 2003.
Another Filipino, Allan Tanada (11W-1L-2D, 5 KOs) of Zamboanga Sibugay won a hard fought majority decision after six rounds over Juan Ruiz (23W-8L, 7 KOs) of California. The scorecards read: 57-57 with two judges scoring it 58-56 for Tanada.
The third Pinoy in the card, Juan Miguel Elorde (10W-1L, 4 KOs) suffered his first career loss as Jerry Guevarra (7W-0L, 5 KOs) of Texas beat him by unanimous decision. He is the grandson of the late world junior lightweight champion Gabriel “Flash” Elorde. /Correspondent Rene Bonsubre Jr.