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Gesta Squeaks By With Majority
Decision Over Manzanarez
By William Trillo
Lightweight Mercito Gesta (32-2-2, 17 KO’s) was given a true
test by Robert Manzanarez (36-2, 29 KO’s) in the main event
of The Golden Boy promoted card in Indio California. Gesta
was all business and was bringing his best to the fighter
from Mexico but the tall and lanky Manzanarez was handling
himself very well.
There were headbutts galore throughout the bout and it was
Manzanarez who was coming up on the short end of the
clashes. As the fight went on he would get cut over his
right eye and suffer more than his share of lumps. Gesta
tried to capitalize on the cut but he found out he was in
against one tough warrior.
This one went the ten round distance and the judges had it
close. Scores read 95-95 and 96-94 twice giving Gesta the
razor thin nod. For his efforts Gesta snagged the vacant
World Boxing Organization NABO Lightweight Title
After the fight Manjarez stated, “I felt I won this fight. I
dominated more rounds than Gesta. I kept him at a distance
and controlled the pace. I kept touching him with long
shots. I want the rematch, but I have to check with my team
to see what’s next.”
Gesta told the media, I feel good, and though I’m surprised
he moved so much. I was really eager to cut the distance and
and hit him. Freddie [Roach] told me I needed to land more
combinations, but it’s clear that Manzanarez is tough and
can take a punch. I can’t wait for what’s next”
With the NABF Featherweight title up for grabs Edgar Valerio
(13-1 ,9 KO’s) took on Manny Robles III (16-0, 8 KO’s) in an
all Los Angeles battle for the vacant belt. It was nip and
tuck from the beginning but a sharp blow sent Valerio to the
seat of his pants and momentum went to the side of Robles.
But Valerio is scrappy and after he gathered himself he hurt
and wobbled Robles, the difference here was that Robles did
not go down.
Over the course of the next few rounds Valerio would taste
the canvas again, and like before he would get up to stun
but not drop Robles. That would be Valerio’s undoing as in
round nine Robles closed the show by dropping and stopping
Feliciano in dramatic fashion at the 2:31 of the 9th.
"This was the most important fight of my career and I took
care of business," said Manny Robles III. "[Valerio] hurt me
with that right hand because I got careless, but thanks to
my conditioning I recovered quickly. I had a great camp. I
won this fight because I had a great game plan. As you can
see, we had something special up our sleeve. After a couple
more fights, I would love a world title shot.”
In a classic Puerto Rico vs. Mexico battle super lightweight
Luis Feliciano (7-0, 4 KO’s) and Daniel Montoya (11-7, 8
KO’s) put on a barn-burner that had the fans on the edge of
their seats as the two battled it out for Hispanic bragging
rights. Everything changed in round three as Feliciano
dropped Montoya to his knees with a stiff combination.
Feliciano got out of that round but in round four he was
down for the count again but this time the ref waved this
one off at the 50 second mark.
“I feel great. We’re taking things fight by fight,” said
Luis Feliciano. “I’m focused on getting better and better.
We work on everything in the gym. That body shot I landed
has been something I’ve had since the amateurs. We work on
everything so that we have all the bases covered when we get
to a championship level.”
Lightweight Luis Arcon (2-0, 2 KO’s) opened the show by
making quick work of Ricardo Alan Fernandez (3-9-4). Acron
jumped on Fernandez from the opening bell and had his foe
reeling, how this one got past the first one is anyone’s
guess. Round two was more of the same but again somehow
Acron could not stop Fernandez. But, the fight would go no
further as everyone agreed this fight didn’t need to proceed
and Fernandez was invited to take an early shower.
“I took this fight on very short notice,” said Luis Arcon.
“I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity with Golden
Boy Promotions, so I worked hard and cut the weight to make
the fight happen. Hopefully I can come back again soon.”
In the walk out bout Super lightweights Herbert Acevedo
(15-2, 6 KO’s) and David Thomas (6-3-1, 2 KO’s) gave the
remaining fans 6 rounds of grueling action. Both men traded
heavy body blows ad infinitum in each and every round. For
those fans who stayed until the very end this fight in and
of itself was worth the price of admission. The fight that
went to the scorecards saw tallies of 58-56, 59-55 and 60-54
give the hard fought battle to Acevedo.
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