Gesta falters in second world title shot, loses to Linares by lopsided unanimous decision
Cebuano world title contender Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta came up short against Venezuelan World Boxing Association (WBA) world lightweight champion Jorge “El Niño de Oro” Linares in their 12-round world title duel yesterday at The Forum in Inglewood, California, USA.
The 30-year-old Gesta, a native of San Remigio town, north Cebu, thus, failed again in his second world title shot as all three judges awarded a unanimous decision victory to the defending champion Linares.
Judges Max DeLuca and Esther Lopez scored it 118-110 while Edward Hernandez Sr saw the fight at 117-111 all in favor of Linares.
Gesta, now based in San Diego, California, suffered his second defeat to go with 31 wins (17 by knockouts) and two draws.
The 32-year-old Linares meanwhile solidified his stature as the best lightweight champion today as he extended his winning streak to 13 since 2012 while winning both the WBA and WBC world lightweight straps in the process. His record now stands at 44-3-0 (win-loss-draw).
It was Linares’ third successful title defense since winning it against Anthony Crolla in 2016 via unanimous decision.
For Gesta, it was another unsuccessful attempt at a world title. His first world title shot was in 2012 when he faced IBF world lightweight champion Miguel Vasquez but he lost also by unanimous decision.
Meanwhile, Sanman Boxing Gym’s Romero “Ruthless” Duno had another breakthrough performance as he knocked out Yardley Armenta Cruz of Mexico in the first round of their eight-rounder non-title showdown in the undercard.
The 22-year-old Duno of General Santos City hit Cruz with right hook to the body followed by another right hook to the head to knock the latter down to the canvas. Cruz wasn’t able to recover from the knockout.
Duno improved to 16-1-0 while Cruz dropped to 22-10-0.
In the other main event, Lucas Matthysee defended his WBA world welterweight title against Tewa Kiram of Thailand by an eighth-round knockout.
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