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MANILA, Philippines – Filipino boxer Mercito Gesta now has a date for his return to action as he is booked to face Mexican-American fighter Carlos Molina on April 30 (May 1 in Manila) at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Palm Springs, California.
Gesta (28-1-1, 16 knockouts), who was born in Mandaue City, Cebu but is currently residing in San Diego, California, recently inked an exclusive promotional contract with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
During his tenure in Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions, the 27-year-old southpaw was able to vie for a world title on the undercard of Pacquiao-Marquez IV in December 2012 when he challenged Miguel Vazquez for the IBF lightweight championship.
However, Gesta failed to bring home the belt as he bowed down to Vazquez in a lopsided contest via unanimous decision.
Gesta eventually received a pink slip from Top Rank in 2013 after suffering multiple injuries in training that led to the cancellation of his scheduled bouts.
After sitting on the sidelines for nearly two years since his disappointing defeat to Vazquez, he made his comeback in April 2014 by thwarting Mexican slugger Edgar Riovalle in the eighth round.
In the same year, Gesta doubled the feat by scoring a seventh-round stoppage of Luis Arceo at July’s “Golden Boy Live!” event in San Francisco, California.
On the other hand, Molina (17-2-1, 7 KOs) has dropped two-straight outings, yielding to Amir Khan via tenth-round technical knockout in December 2012 before suffering another setback in the hands of Adrien Broner by unanimous decision in a May 2014 meeting on the undercard of Mayweather-Maidana.
Prior to his two-fight losing skid, the 29-year-old pugilist had won 17-consecutive bouts, including a decision victory over Marcos Leonardo Jimenez to capture the vacant WBO Intercontinental lightweight title that was once held by Robert Guerrero and Khan.
According to a report by Boxing Scene, the marquee match-up between Gesta and Molina will be contested at a catchweight of 138 pounds. – Rappler.com
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