Gesta Continues Rich Tradition of Filipinos Fighting in San Francisco!
By Jason Aniel
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 17 Feb 2011
San Francisco, CA?Rising prospect Mercito Gesta makes his Bay Area debut this Friday when he takes on Genaro Trazancos, who oddly enough Gesta already stopped in seven round in 2010, at the Longshoreman?s Hall in San Francisco. The bout will be televised on Telefutura on "Tecate's Solo Boxeo". Gesta, 20-0-1 (10 KOs), is widely considered one of Boxing?s top young prospects based on his impressive recorded and, more importantly, his impressive performances inside the ring. Many have already crowned Gesta the next ?Manny Pacquiao? because of Gesta?s aggressive offensive-minded style. While there will never be another Manny Pacquiao, Gesta is positioned to have his opportunity to make a real impact in the Lightweight division in the upcoming year.
2011 will be an important year for the young prospect. His opponent, Genaro Trazancos, isn?t a fighter that will test Gesta or give us a hint on how good Gesta could become in the future. However, Gesta, who is based in San Diego, will be fighting in Bay Area, which has a strong population of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans. Specifically, Gesta will fight in San Francisco, which has a rich tradition of boxing not involving Filipinos but the rest of the boxing world. Many of the major world championships have been defended in San Francisco. Legendary Filipinos world champions like Flash Elorde, Luisito Espinosa, and Manny Pacquiao have fought in San Francisco. In 1956, Elorde had one of his most famous fights against Sandy Saddler in a featherweight championship bout, where Elorde, leading the fight on points, lost by way of a cut that appeared to be caused by a headbutt, but was ruled as a punch. Espinosa won the state bantamweight title in San Francisco. In 2001, Pacquiao defended his IBF title in a draw to Agapito Sanchez.
Today, some of the best fighters in boxing reside in the Bay Area, which has been hosting more boxing cards over the last couple of years. Fighters like Andre Ward, Nonito Donaire, Robert Guerrero, and Anna Julaton all train and live in various cities in the Bay Area. San Francisco has always been a fight town rich with tradition, and Gesta will have an opportunity to continue that tradition, and with a great performance may be the first of many Gesta fight in San Francisco.
Contact the writer at sportnjordan@gmail.com or on twitter @sportnjordan.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Jason Aniel.
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