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Yes, it's been in the news lately that Ryan Garcia will have its own tune-up fight before a showdown with Tank Davis.

His opponent is a Filipino slugger named Mercito Gesta which is for me a very lively opponent and dangerous as well but i also do think that a very good tune-up fight for him.

https://www.boxingscene.com/ryan-garcia-mercito-gesta-land-moody-center-austin-texas-january--170959

So much focus with Davis, good to see that Garcia will take a fight or a tune up fight before moving his way to face Davis, not familiar with his opponent but knowing Filipino fighter, he needs to make sure that he will focus on his preparation. Upset can happen as each Filipino fighter who got that chance to fight a well-known opponent always desires to win.

Though on my opinion, Garcia still have that upper hand here, though by experienced Gesta already have 33 wins and 3 losses at the age of 35, heavy puncher but I guess his stamina might be the problem facing a much tougher opponent, knowing Garcia, he will try to box his opponent and with that solid combination that he can throw, it will be a big problem for Gesta.

I thought there was already an official statement and I looked it in the bookies, I support the Mercito but I really think he will be knocked out by Ryan Garcia in less than 12 rounds. Ryan Garcia has the fastest punch that has a good counter but his punches was not that yet good with combinations and that could be one of his current weaknesses. Also, he needs to improve his jabs as that could be really helpful throughout the rounds, so far I go along with Garcia in this match.

They both want to have a tuneup after all. Garcia picked someone who is almost in the twilight of his career while Tank chooses someone who is undefeated. Mercito Gesta an unknown fighter gets the lucky break. Hector and Mercito still got a good opportunity to make an enormous amount of money. So it's still a win for both.  Hoping for an upset.  ;D

Honestly I don't think this boxer will become a threat for Garcia, Gesta haven't fight any champion yet. He mostly lost when fight against good boxer and few times he win with a close decision either majority or split. If there's a bookie will add this match, I wouldn't surprised if the moneyline odds for Garcia is lower than 1.15x. Gesta haven't lost via KO even though there's few match if he's fell down, so it's will be interesting if Garcia can win via KO.

Some people are saying that Ryan Garcia is just overrated but as to how I see him and his career, he's definitely a 'big one' in boxing industry. Has solid punches, good footworks, and can dodge close range punches with ease. And what's special to him is his dedication with this sport. To those who does not know, videos of his fights, sparrings, trainings and such are all over the web. I also saw Mercito's fights and unfortunately, I kind of agree with a complete domination for Garcia in this fight. But ofcourse Gesta won't be in such position to match up with his opponent if he's a no one. His name is also quite being noisy especially with his previous fight. But still, I'd probably vote for Garca.

Unfortunately, could be bad for Gesta as he is already way past his prime already.

But during Gesta's run, he has beat a lot of good fighters as well and if I'm not mistaken, touted to be the next thing for Filipinos until he was defeated and it went downhill for him. So yeah, I good test for Ryan Garcia here, but who knows, Gesta might derail if he still has something in his, just one punch that will knock out the hell out of Garcia. We have seen the Ryan did go down from a pillow fisted Campbell, but if he is going to be touch by Gesta, just maybe he will taste the canvass again and see if he can get up or not.

Good choice of opponent for Garcia, they know that Gesta is a big puncher that is their risk, but probably looking at how they are going to handle it. Probably a test on Garcia test, and as what we have said before, there could be a "puncher's chance" for Gesta but it is gong to be very slim.

Filipinos though have big heart, so don't underestimate that. If he will lost on him, this will be one of the biggest upset and I don't know how Ryan can get over it. Maybe he will have a nightmare and his mental issues will surface again.

Ryan Garcia has chosen a very good opponent for his warm-up fight against Davis, Gesta is a very unusual fighter he has very good movement inside the ring something Garcia wants who moves and a very hard target and will give him a tough fight, last time I saw Gesta fought was against Linares three years ago where he loses by unanimous decision but he put up a gallant fight, Ryan will have his hands full against Gesta but I'm sure Ryan can beat Gesta easily.
The fight could go into the full 10 rounds because Gesta has a good defense and can take a punch.

Good choice of tune up fight, hehehe, but then again this is No Mercy Gesta and you know, if this Filipinos are giving this kind of stage, they will take advantage of it.

Haven't check what the odds or what will be Ryan's numbers as far as the odds.

But let me tell you, it's good to throw some money on Gesta hehehe as a huge underdog.

Mercito Gesta lost once via KO against Juan Antonio Rodriguez last March of 2019, it was an intense bloody fight, but the Mexican boxer was the one who prevailed on that specific fight.

Back to this fight, I'm not really expecting that much either knowing that Mercito Gesta is just there to keep Ryan Garcia in shape as this is just a mere tune-up fight. And as usual, Garcia got the size advantage as well as the reach compared to the Filipino boxer. Although, Garcia should still be careful and not lower his guard at the crucial times because the experience always speaks the most and Mercito got those advantage.

I love the decision of Ryan Garcia, it's a great tune-up fight as we all know how dangerous Filipino fighters are. I hope there will be no upset, otherwise, we will not be seeing a Garcia vs Tank Davis fight. Anyways, good luck to both guys, I'm sure we will witness a very entertaining fight.

I love to see Ryan wins so Tank can knock him out but Gesta is a sentimental favorite he has a great career in the US, and he has been to a lot he has fought for the World title twice already and he loses both via unanimous decision he's been fighting professionally for 19 years already so he is a veteran and can give Ryan Garcia problem.
Ryan can beat Gesta but I'm sure Gesta will give him a tough fight, there's a possibility of an upset because Ryan's chin is questionable he will be tested here because he is up to against a fighter who is a veteran of many tough fights.

That's what I'm expecting, though we will think that it's just a tune up fight for Ryan Garcia, but he should not underestimate this fight as he is a Filipino boxer, not an easy opponent. Still Ryan Garcia has the advantage in all factors, so I'm expecting him to be the heavy favorites in the betting sites, I'm thinking of betting against him and hope for an upset.

Judging on Mercito Gesta's record (https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/218078), he has plenty of fights already, not a KO artist but without his experience, that would make him deserving to fight Ryan Garcia. If Ryan Garcia will try to win by KO here, that will be good so we will see this fight ends early, however, I'm not sure if Ryan Garcia will easily win.

Ryan Garcia badly needs a very good tune fight because if you run a comparison between who he fought against Tank's opponents he will badly fail in comparison he needed a good but fading fighter who will give Garcia a quality opponent and Gesta is the right choice, but a choice that could backfire because Gesta is a guy that will not run and like to slug it out and has a solid chin he just won a tough fight against Jojo Diaz Jr seven months ago and you can tell on this video that Gesta is a big threat.

Joel Diaz Jr vs Mercito Gesta |🥊Knockdown | Full FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS |  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wqcD-Jy7pg)

If Gesta will engaged and will also try to win with a KO the chance of Garcia to finished the fight in an early round is possible, Garcia is a known KO artist, if Gesta won't be able to handle those solid punches then it might be the end of the fight, I think we will only see how the fight will end if we see them exchanging solid punches, else, decision might also be possible if Gesta will try a different strategy and use his experienced knowing the capabilities of his opponent.

He can throw some jabs then runaway to avoid any engagement with Garcia.

Gesta is a thinking fighter has seen him fight Linares and he knows how to adapt in every fighter he fought Gesta is not only hard to catch but also can take a punch, sue Garcia can beat him if he is the one who can connect his big punches but Gesta is also a heavy hitter I'm sure this is Garcia's toughest test Gesta although already old still good based on his last match against Diaz I like to see their face-off but there will be no thrash talks here as both fighters are gentlemen.

A great opportunity for Garcia to fight with Davis before the fight with an experienced boxer, who is undoubtedly Gesta, who returned to the ring after a four-year break, I wonder how he will be able to resist the younger Garcia and whether Gesta will be able to prove that in this fight his chin will be as stony as before.

That's a long break but if he wants to prove that he has still something to offer to this sports,
he will prepare good. This is why Garcia should not take this fight lightly.
We have seen a lot of Filipino boxers that are really good inside the boxing ring.
So if this fight will be upset, I don't think the fight with Davis will still be pushing thru though they are saying that it is already done deal.

I learned that this fight will be contested at 135 lbs. and not a catchweight, which is kind of confusing because Davis and Garcia agreed on a 136 lbs. catchweight fight. Please someone explain to me about this because it got me confused. Did Ryan Garcia predicted that he will be having a hard time on his weight on the later date and not with against Gesta this January?

Yes, I've looked up on Gesta's recent fights and some of his highlights because I don't know him at all as he is also not that known. It gets me the idea why Oscar Dela Hoya and Ryan Garcia chose him, truly a good tune-up fight for Garcia to get him in good shape and be more ready when he will be facing Davis in the same ring, although Garcia should be vigilant because this Gesta is not the kind of boxer who you can't really underestimate because he is the kind who will take advantage whenever Garcia shows some weakness. This is quite exciting, IMO!

I saw some replay from YouTube with that last fight against Diaz, he's exhausted with that exchange toe-to-toe solid punches but I agree that Gesta also have that capability to hurt Garcia and if he connects more Garcia can also be upset here, like you I'm also excited to see if how both fighters will prepared in these upcoming fight.

They have enough time to workout both by reviewing their opponent's style of fighting and what are the good combinations and fighting strategy that they can execute during the fight.

I guess Garcia just wanted to still try and make the weight around 135 lbs, I mean if he can still make it, then it will be easy for him to just add 1 lbs on it against Davis, this is just my speculation as why he insist on 135 lbs at his fight.

Yes he did say in the past that he had a hard time making the 135 lbs. But maybe this is just to show Davis that he can, if he just wanted to. Maybe this is a response to Davis accusing him that he seems to be into something right? Davis didn't say it directly, but if you read between the line, he is alleging that Ryan is huge and could be into something like performance enhancing drugs. So this is a way to shut him up.

It will be a gold way for Garcia to prove Davis wrong. 1lb isn't a problem and for sure he'll reach the required weight. Garcia seems to be in the spotlight of his career and facing huge boxers would add a good record for him at the beginning of the year. Some boxers are throwing out rumors and unproven speculations regarding Garcia's strength and Garcia should just have to prove to them that he has the fastest hands among them.

Yes, I do agree with your confusion, Ryan said that he can't make the 135 lbs weight limit and now suddenly he is going to have a tune up against a dangerous Filipino in that weight?

His last two fight if I'm not mistaken is above this weight and it a catch weight fight. With this fight against Davis, he is giving so much to Tank all advantage is with Davis, including the weight. So hopefully Garcia can win here without any problems.

However, this fight might also have the focus on Tank Davis. Mercito Gesta is a left hander very much similar to Tank Davis and according to @bisdak40, his is a slugger and a very dangerous lively boxer. This will certainly be very good practice for Ryan Garcia's left hook knockout and have this ready against Tank hehehe. This is my prediction, King Ryan will win the fight with a left hook knockout in under 5 rounds!

Also, I reckon Gesta might not need stamina if he will be knocked out near the beginning of this fight hehe. I am very excited for this.

This will be to test his stamina at this weight class, if he can defeat Gesta without a problem, then that would say that he is 100% ready to face Tank Davis. I know that it's one of the most anticipated fight next year, so hopefully Garcia will not take this "tune up" fight for granted. It's the dedication to fight and the will to win will be the key for the winner of the fight, and I believe Gesta will take it as the biggest fight of his life, hence he will not let this opportunity slip.

Right, that's usually problem with big hitters like Gesta, if they throw with force and it didn't hit anything, then the energy and expenditure will caught up with him. And that's why he losses fight during his prime, he almost made it big time but when he run out of gas, usually his opponent will take advantage of it.

Nevertheless, we will see if Gesta will give Ryan his toughest fight before his highly anticipated match with Tank Davis. I still remember one Filipino as well who is so much hype, Romero Duno, but when he faces Garcia, Ryan just knock him out in 98 seconds.

Gesta was a pretty decent fighter many years ago. He has only fought once in three years so I am not sure if he will be much of a challenge for Garcia. This is meant to be a soft touch meant to give him confidence before the superfight with Tank Davis. If Garcia struggles with Gesta then it would raise a lot of doubts in his chances of beating Davis.

Yeah, probably they've chosen Gesta because of his style, very wild and they is also a lefty similar to Tank Davis, not sure about the height but probably almost the same height as well. So he is fighting a similar type of boxer like Tank so let's see how Garcia will take care of him.

I do agree, Gesta has nothing to lost and again, his comeback fight after so many years, so he is a bit rusty.

Nevertheless, a opportunity for him to face the likes of Ryan Garcia so that is enough for him before he quit boxing for good, earn decent money.

Good point, thanks mate! I haven't thought about that.

Well, indeed it's a good way to prove Davis that he is not under peds, and that he can go back and forth in 135 lbs. and 140 lbs. if he really wanted to. I honestly don't know where did Gervonta Davis picked that and throw that kind of allegation all of a sudden that is actually baseless, maybe that's what he learned during his years under Mayweather's banner? Just kidding! ;D

I go with the opportunity. Pinoy fighters are good in this kind of situation always want to show what they can bring to entertain the fans. Upset may happen though the chance is slim. Maybe for me, your analysis was right in terms of choosing Gesta to fight Garcia with the same type of opponents Garcia needs to work it out well with Gesta to push forward and see what are the best practices and strategy to use when facing Davis.

All still are possible since we haven't seen them inside the ring, result will be witness with all those viewers and fans that will watch and bet with this fight.

Ryan Garcia is professional boxer of America, he become a sixth rank in less weight category. While the Gesta had title winner during 2012 and 2018 in light weights. Gesta was the experienced boxer with old title and Garcia is with 24 years and younger with huge spirit to make his win the title in January. As we know it’s hard to Garcia to win the experienced fighter over 11 years. So his experience had unique one. The experience was the essential one for the game and people will not avoid the experience players to gain the knowledge from it. Gesta should improve the game for the next match for the win of game.

Many people had good opinions for both the boxers. But my full support to the Ryan Garcia alone, he is fresh boxer with the young blood. Eventhough the opponent is talent and experienced guy. He can’t beat the young blood easily. The young blood will recover easily after the fall. Because the young people blood will be very energetic one as compared to the old guy. It’s enough to the support the boxer like Ryan in this match as compared to the Gesta. Ryan was the player from America and doesn’t agreed by the developing nations players and the fans. But it will be used by tactics by the rest of the nation.

I'm afraid to say that there's no title in this fight mate, both Ryan Garcia and Mercito Gesta currently have no titles to put on the line. Even Gesta haven't had a single regular title on his possession in his whole career,  I know that he got skills but with against Ryan Garcia who is much more younger than him and faster? We all know how would this likely end. Moreover, this is just a tune-up fight so I don't really expect an upset especially in this case.

This can still be a great match up  and if there’s an upset then obviously Mercito will have a great break on defeating the undefeated boxer. Garcia should really prepare for his match up with David because it will not be an easy match for him so having this fight first can be a big help. Garcia needs to focus more on his mental health and be more confident, I know he still a great boxer and he will still prevail.

The problem is if there will be an upset between Garcia and Gesta, will Garcia fight with Tank afterwards?
A different outcome may pose a different path for Garcia. So yes, he should really make sure he will win over Gesta.
A tune-up fight is great so you know where to improve yourself for the next big fight.
However, if Garcia loses in the supposedly tune-up fight, it will change the course of his boxing career.
Will Tank still accept the supposedly done deal fight? Gesta may be unknown to many, but we should not take for granted given he has more fights than Garcia.

So we should not expect an easy game for Garcia here since he is fighting a great fighter even though he is not popular but looking at his record, its still impressive. Garcia should start preparing for this, if he lose on this match probably it can affect his future match against Tank. I’m not sure why they both need to have a tune up match but since this is already final, better to deal with it professionally.

Compared to Romero Duno, I do think that Gesta is more dangerous to be an opponent for a prodigy like Ryan Garcia as he has more experience than the former and is also a big hitter but I also think that Ryan would win this fight as there are a lot of factors like ring rust for inactivity and also the age.

Gesta is promoted by Golden Boy, the same with Ryan Garcia so that might also be a factor if this fight will go the distance so the only chance for Gesta to win is by knockout if he could land those lucky punches but nevertheless this is a good tune-up fight for Garcia before facing Davis.

Really depends though, if there is still a clamour for it to happen then why not? But perhaps the hype is not as big as if either of them haven't lost though. We have them to fight with 0 loses and undefeated.


Yes, that is the purpose of a tune up fight try to improved but then don't lose the fight as well.

So still very dangerous fight for Garcia as well as Tank because who knows, not saying that they will not win, but the risk is there to lose.

Although Gesta is a very good fighter with a good background I consider this a cherry-picked fight for Garcia because Gesta is not a promising boxer, already old and checking his fights on Youtube I saw some weaknesses in his style he is flatfooted and has lax his defense especially when attacking, these loopholes are the things that's Ryan's going to explore when they meet, I'll pick Ryan to win this fight because obviously, this is a cherry-picked.

Same here I support Mercito Gesta but he is greatly an under-dog here.  Considering the experience, power, strength and advantage of Ryan Garcia, this will be a great test for Filipino boxer if he will survive the fight without getting KDed or KOed.  I am not expecting Gesta to win here but I hope he can give a good fight to Ryan Garcia.  Would be great if he is able to beat  Garcia but not hoping too much on that.  I will definitely put my money on Gesta to show my support and a chance to get a bigger win.

Yes, it will be a big test for Ryan Garcia, to overcome a great punches like Gesta. Obviously, it was a cherry pick fight by Garcia and his team because they know that Gesta is old already. But who know, if this Filipino boxer suddenly find his second win in boxing then it will be a good fight for Ryan Garcia. But eventually I think Ryan will also win but it's good to see him being chin tested by Gesta because his next fight, against Tank Davis is one of the hardest hitter if not the hardest hitter in 135 lbs. No problem with putting money on Gesta, as he is a live dog.

He might be old but he can still fight, besides he is only 35 years old and he won his last fight.
If Garcia did cherry picked him, then he better be careful as Filipino boxers does not give up easily, what if an upset will happen? What would happen to their planned big fight?


All I expect from this fight is they will entertain the crowd, Ryan Garcia maybe more superior but this underdog is not afraid to fight the champ.

How about Tank Davis? Does he have a tuneup fight like this?

Yes, there is. It is against Hector Luis Garcia and it will be on January 7 of 2023. Have posted the link of the thread below in case you are interested to read it.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5422159.msg61314626#msg61314626


That's the interesting part of this matchup as we all know that when a Filipino fighter fight in this kind of a set-up, the possibility of an upset is very possible but with the inactivity of Gesta, I have doubt that he can defeat Ryan Garcia.

Mercito Gesta is a decent fighter but I'm afraid that he's role now is to give the rising stars more experience and will be a stepping stone for their success, and like Ryan Garcia, Gesta will pave a way to create and give Garcia a good experience before he will fight a much more heavy boxer named Gervonta Davis. Although, Gesta is also that kind of boxer who will pull the ones who aren't good enough to pass his challenge. It will be a good fight of course but Ryan Garcia needed to pass this challenge first even if this is just a cherry-picked fight.

Mercito Gesta's last fight was 8 months ago not really that long but a fighter's performance will have an impact if he is not fighting at least twice a month, Ryan Garcia's last fight was in July so between the two Garcia is fresher but still goes on their training and their style of fighting which Garcia has a big advantage in the past we have seen tune fights that turn the other way around where the favorites losses to their tune fights we all want the Ryan - Tank matches so we hope they beat their respective opponents so both fighters meet in the ring for their legacy fight.

Ryan has the advantage in this fight, and although Gesta's last fight was 8 months ago, he still needs to train very hard if he wanted to offset Ryan Garcia as he his looking for his next fight with Davis. Yes, that is what we are expecting that both will beat their respective opponents so that they will have their time to shine, prime for prime, no losses at all.

Definitely all underdog is not afraid, that's what they are here for, to challenge the champ and see if he can take the punches of underdog fighters like Gesta.

Since Tank will have to fight another Garcia first before facing Ryan in April, it's just right that Ryan will also have his own tune-up fight. He needs it. But I think Gervonta is facing a harder opponent for their tune-up fights. Gesta may be the more experienced fighter but he is already far from his prime. He's at the end of his career and he doesn't have the kind of power that Tank has. Hector, on the other hand, is both young and undefeated. Both of their opponents have low chances of an upset, though.

That's nice, I'll check that thread, did not noticed it though.
Good for these two boxers, having a tune up fight will make them more prepared in this big fight, but let's hope they'll beat their respective opponent so the hype will continue.


The chance of upset is just very low though, but I'm just hoping they'll have an entertaining fight and the winner will be convincing to the eyes of the fans.

That point are valid since watching Gesta's past fights seems that he really need to work with this concern else Garcia can easily push him to this level and if Garcia keep converting solid punches, Gesta's chances to be KO is possible, it will be depends now with how both will train and how seriously they will be taking these upcoming fight.

Taking the risk for Gesta will be a tough decision even you are a heavy gambler who loves exploring for the underdog.

There's always a risk, even if betting on the high favorites, there's still no assurance that you'll win. Thing is, Gesta is also a Warrior and since I believe in upset, I believe Gesta will have a chance of winning this fight. Looking at his record, it's not so impressive but with his huge experience, he sure have something that would give Garcia a real fight.

Hopefully Ryan Garcia will take Gesta a serious opponent, so he won't be suprise in case upset would happen.

On Garcia's side, he needs to work more with his fighting style so taking this against Gesta will be a good start for him, I read a post above that Gesta and Davis do have some similarities in their fighting style so it's a good take for Garcia to look at it as serious threat and adjust to excel more when fighting Davis next.

He won't be surprised if he will prepare a more advance training for this upcoming then more when preparing for Davis.

That might be the particular reason why Ryan Garcia's camp has chosen Mercito Gesta because they both have some similarities. You see, I'm curious why they pick this Filipino boxer and because you've said that, it all made some sense now. They're indeed on the right page for that because that will really prepare Ryan Garcia against Tank Davis on a later date.

It's now all on Ryan Garcia if how will he deal with Gesta because the latter will really take advantage of anything and will even go such extremes just to get Ryan upset if he shows some weakness during their fight. This will be a good test for the kid before he faces a heavier boxer.

Yeah and that's why it took them some time before they can announced who will be their tune up fight because they are looking for someone similar to Tank abilities, quick hands and very hard.

And so they find Gesta, a perfect fit, no longer in his prime but can still fight and might be showing some speed against Ryan.

But if Ryan see that is is very easy fight, I think he will have to prolonged the fight so that he will have at least a good practice.

I see so it's like a simulation for Garcia and can prepare for Tank's strategy.  He should just get someone to simulate Tank or Gesta as a sparring partner if this is how he'd come up with a plan. It could be compromised if Gesta acts differently in the ring. Garcia would really be a laughing stock if he is beaten by this unknown fighter that seems to have a good record in his early days.

Not only in the sparring session, but in this real fight. So for sure Garcia will take advantage of this, he will be fighting a very durable Pinoy that can emulate the style of Tank Davis. So he should take it seriously, fight is just next month, only like 4 weeks to prepare or more but he will be peaking around that time in January against Gesta.

And I see Tank has a bigger opponent in Hector Garcia in my opinion.

But it doesn't change the fact that they still need to win their respective fight in January first.

Exactly, they don't want to ruined that chance to fight against each other, so they'll need to beat their respective opponent. It's a good tuneup fight for Garcia as he would fight an aggressive fighter which has a similar style of Tank Davis. Garcia has the power and speed, I'm not sure if Gesta will survive a 12 rounds fight if he wants some kind of war in this fight.

Perhaps you are cherry-picking because you have your bias to Ryan Garcia unconsciously. If you spend a lot of time on social media, you'll see his face everywhere since there were heck of a creators that uses his influence in sports to something irrelevant on platforms mainly youtube. LOL. BUT tbh, even I am a Filipino I will go with Ryan Garcia, watching his previous fights are worthy of any opponent, just not as ripe as crawford and spence. It's a Filipino-American fight, so it's gonna be exciting. I wanna see 12 rounds of back to back exchange.

It's all up to Ryan Garcia if how will he learn from facing Mercito Gesta this coming January, the entire camp will surely help him on some strategies but the rest is on him especially if he's already in the ring with the Philippine boxer who moves and fights like Tank Davis. He better wise up this time so that he can lift his name higher and don't let his emotions control him because that is also his weakness as it's already proven that he's too vulnerable about it.

He needed to learn from how Gesta perform his strategy then try to adjust and create a new counter that might help him in his quest facing Davis, for now, he should focus and not to think that the pinoy fighter is just a warm up but he needs to take it seriously a mistake may cause him being beaten by the Gesta. Which is not good if he's really aiming for Davis next year.

He still have lots of time for preparing and creating good figting style to use when the fight comes. All eyes on him as fans wants to see an improve Garcia that preparing for the anticipating fight against Davis.

Of course this is a cherry-picked fight by Garcia's camp and I know Oscar De La Hoya helped on this task as well to get Ryan Garcia all prepped and got his tune-up before he faces Gervonta Davis who got vast ring IQ and also a knockout artist as well just like Ryan Garcia. There's no need for you guys to fight and talking about bias preferences because even if we don't know these boxers and only look their stats and their record, we all know that we will choose Ryan Garcia over Mercito Gesta.

And I would say that Oscar love to pick Filipino fighters, because besides the Mexican, they are also one tough cookie to deal with. And so if they want Ryan to be really battle tested against Davis, then they have to pick someone that is very durable, fast with power but somewhat in the downside of their career and they found a perfect fighter for Ryan in Gesta.

So yes a cherry pick fight but for sure, Ryan has been advise to take this fight seriously and train as if he is facing Davis because Gesta will be a good challenge for him and don't be to lazy and thinks that he can just steam rolled this Filipino.

These two boxers (Garcia and Gesta) have one point of comparison, they both fought Carlos Morales.  Garcia fought Morales in 2018 and won via majority decision while Gesta fought Morales in 2019 and ended up in a draw.  Though Morales make it hard to Garcia during their fight, it was in 2018 when Garcia is still learning the ropes of boxing.  So I think this fight between Garcia and Gesta will end up with Gesta being knocked down since I watched Gesta fights, he isn't as fluid as Davis and oftentimes leaves himself open for a counter every time Gesta is to engaged.  Gesta's punch isn't swift making it easier for Garcia to launch an attack that will hit first before Gesta's punch hits. 

There might be a small chance of an upset win but I doubt that will happen. Gesta at 35 obviously he is almost past his prime while Garcia is on top of his game shows how greatly mismatch this two boxer is.

Yes, and even though they have similar opponents in the past, it's really hard to gauge which one is better as they fought Morales with a different version of them. And triangle doesn't work in boxing for me, meaning if A fighter beat B fighter, and B fighter beat C fighter, doesn't mean that A fighter beat C fighter.

But that small chance, Garcia should be careful and not slack on Gesta hear. He might be 35 years old, but he can still pull the trigger and that one punch can change the outcome of the game if Ryan is not very cautious of that power from that left of Gesta.

Garcia will only lose if he is not careful, he should not underestimate or over aggressive and wants to finish the fight early as Gesta also has the power. One punch can change everything, remember that Garcia went down once already, good thing that time he was able to stand up and dominate his opponent, what if it will not happen against Gesta?

Advantage will be in Garcia of course, I haven't heard Mercito Gesta and I've seen that he has some losses already unlike Garcia he is undefeated it could be either a chance for fame to Gesta but for Garcia it could be just another match. Ryan Garcia is really a good puncher with a really fast hands I am sure that there's gonna have a knock out in this match but let's just see what's gonna happen.

Yes, maybe if you are not a Filipino, then you might not heard of Gesta before, but he was really good when he was in his prime, but it was like 5 years ago and he is a good to decent boxer. He fought Jorge Linares, and lost to him and I think this is for the belt, although not the regular one.

Definitely, Ryan Garcia will have the advantage and could go for a killer knockout. But don't count Gesta yet, maybe he will go toe to toe and try to show that he can still fight and try for a upset.

Yeah, he just need to condition himself, in those 5years I know that he knows more things than before and he should learn from that experience, his endurance, stamina and his mental fortitude must be ready for  this. Few days from now it will be their fight, changing weather might be a problem as well but his team will be prepared for it for sure, I am rooting for his major comeback.

I guess that's one way to look at it and you do have a good point about it because Oscar himself already tasted the punch of a Filipino boxer and for him that wasn't a good memory because that gave him an embarrassment that forced him to retire afterwards. And I also see why Oscar picked Gesta for Ryan Garcia's tune up, it's a good pick obviously. Looking forward to see Ryan Garcia against this Filipino boxer.

I still think there is a triangle in boxing but it is outweighed by the powerful punches or if the fighter is capable to knock out their opponent.  Just like strategy and counter-strategy, boxing style  may have its counter but people adjust to disable the advantage of their opponent.


Gesta is too slow for Garcia, that is what I seen on the recent fight of Gesta,  besides Gesta has the tendency to leave his head open when he is about to engage which if not fixed can be disastrous and may lead to KO having Gesta kiss the canvas.

Every fighters have their chance when stepping inside the ring. If Garcia will fight carelessly, the chance of Gesta will increase. Like what you have mentioned, Gesta is also a decent fighter though he's not on his prime, but he still has it. He can go and throw solid punches that might put Garcia in a tough position or possible to push Garcia down.

We can't conclude yet, until the day of the fight come and the announcers already stating the name of the winner, the only time
that we can say who really dominated the fight.

Gesta only have to study and practice countering all the movements of Ryan. Knowing Garcia, he's a fast puncher so it will be a big challenge for Gesta. As much as possible, he should also be as faster as Ryan for him to beat him.
It has been a long time since he had a big fight so he should be preparing big time for this. Garcia is also trying to make a well-polished boxing record so I'm sure that he's really preparing hard to win this match.

Both boxer are preparing for this big fights and having their tune up match before their main big fight is a big help but of course their trainings and strategies will matter the most here. Yes, Garcia is faster and have a good combination of punches which Gesta should be more prepared. Gesta is also good, but its not enough he should train more to match the intensity of Garcia. This is one of the anticipated match next year and still many wants Garcia to win here.

Big update on this fight, report says that Ryan Garcia opted out of a tune up fight with Gesta and decided to go straight to Tank Davis.

https://i.imgur.com/WnfUJEF.png

https://twitter.com/RyanGarcia/status/1603922298909515777

I think it's a good call for him to go straight to the lion's den. Perhaps he just wanted to preserved all his energy with a Davis fight first quarter of the year.

And besides, it was Tank who requested this kind of tune up fights, and so Ryan doesn't feel he need to go to one.

Oh good, I do hope that it won't backfire on Ryan because if the fight happens in April-May, he will have like 9 months ++ inactivity while Davis is going to be fresh because he has a fight with another Garcia.

I see some comments though in that twitter post, Lol, so much hate for Ryan saying that Davis fighting Hector Garcia is not a tune up fight because Hector is a tough opponent. Nevertheless why not fight Ryan in February or March instead of giving Hector Garcia a fight?

Maybe Tank want to let him and Ryan to prove both of them deserve to fight with each other, if either of them is lost of course the opponent is more stronger. The worst reason is Tank want avoid fighting with Ryan Garcia, so he's trying to find a way to postponed the fight until everyone forget and no hype about it.

Since this fight is cancelled, now @OP can lock this topic and we can only see Tank fight with Hector Garcia before he will fight with Ryan Garcia.

Yes, could be, but doesn't make sense if Tank requested that before they fight?

But Ryan stood by this decision not to have a tune up fight against Gesta, and it's bad that we fans of Gesta are not going to see him against Garcia.

So yeah, if this is confirmed then this thread could be lock in the next 24 hours.

It’s hard to understand Garcia, he says that he’s had enough of intermediate fights, and he wants to fight Tank, but despite this, he agreed to fight with Gesta, his behavior is often strange, he has already disrupted two fights in a row in 2021, citing to mental problems. And yet, it seems to me that Garcia will not be able to defeat Tank, this is too difficult an opponent for him.

Maybe he doesn't want to wait too long, and both camps have probably agreed a fight date that is far from now, and I would understand that both camps just want to have a tuneup fight before that big fight, but they have to ensure they'll be fine and they'll win impressively against their respective opponents.

Just like Spence and Crawford, they have their tuneup fight before a big fight, so most probably they just follow it. Anyway, I don't see any reason why a tuneup fight will not happen, I believe it will help them to be in shape, and as long as they'll both win, then there's no problem going forward.

These are undefeated champs fighting a not popular challenges, so there's no much risk here.

Maybe there's less risk here but there's no assurance that they will win. Well, for Ryan Garcia, his camp knows how important this fight before a big fight with Tank Davis, so they choose a fighter that could give Garcia a good challenge. Until this fight is over, we cannot be too excited with Garcia's fight on Tank Davis as you know, upset could happen.

Between Ryan's opponent and Tank's opponent, Ryan is facing a risky challenger, Gesta's first fight was in 2003 and he fought for world titles two times already in 2012 and 2018 he is in battle tested and he just comes from a Unanimous decision win against Diaz he should not underestimate the guy style is very different from all the other boxers that Ryan has fought, he can engage and he is a good counter puncher, he will have a very good tune fight in Gesta and talking about upsets it's possible here.

That depends on how you see the fight, but if you look at the age gap, you can tell that there's a big difference as Garcia is only 24 years old while Gesta is already 35 years old. As per https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/218078, Gesta's alias is "Guerrero No Mercy", let's see if he will live that on his biggest fight of his life in boxing.

Yes there's an age ha between these two fighter 11 years gap is quite big a 24 years old Garcia want to fight a 35 years old marcito Gesta which unfair right? if we base on age.  But in the world of boxing age doesn't matter once a young fighter want to fight an old one then go for as we all know that strategy and toughness are the basis if a young fight are tougher and have a good strategy on fighting then a big chance and also in adult fighter.

Some thinks that this is still an intermediate fight for Garcia, but I wouldn’t say that since we don’t know yet what would Gesta will show in their fight.  If going after Tank is really the goal of Garcia, having some fight with a Filipino boxer is a good idea in my opinion. With the background of Gesta, and knowing Filipinos love boxing that much, he could give a good fight to Garcia and even help him to challenged himself to be more equipped and shaped before facing Tank.

This should have been an exciting fight and the biggest fight of Mercito Gesta but Ryan Garcia released a statement that he opt to fight Tank Davis and will no longer fight in January against Mercito Gesta.  I wonder what would be the consequence of Ryan Garcia's action since I believe he already signed a contract to fight Mercito Gesta.

I do not know if Ryan Garcia has no confidence to win in fighting Mercito Gesta and just gives the reason for wanting to have the fight straight to Davis and any fight other than that is unnecessary.  

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Source: https://www.boxingscene.com/ryan-garcia-opts-go-straight-gervonta-davis-fight-with-mercito-gesta-no-longer-play--171219

I don't think that Ryan Garcia doesn't think that he can't beat Gesta, just tired maybe of making this tune up fight, he has recovered mentally. And I think this is why this promoter manager wanted to test him if he is already psychologically prepared and seems he is OK already.

But the news though really affected Gesta more here, I mean he wanted do make a comeback himself and this is a good time for him.

Definitely he will earn a good amount of money for his retirement but unfortunately, Ryan Garcia doesn't want to go to this tune up fights anymore.

The thing here is the consequences of not fighting even there's already a contract that being signed by both parties, tough if there's none then
Garcia can go and proceed not to fight.

But if there's a contract, then he will be liable to any mandatory rules that can be applied unless both the promoters and Gesta's cam will let
him and not to force him to proceed and take this schedule fight.

We might hear more updates about this. For now, it's all on Garcia's released statements.

I agree but I believe Garcia does not factor out the possibility of an upset.  And the possibility of an injury.  I think Garcia wanted to fight Davis in perfect condition and this fight against Gesta only give him(Garcia) money profit but is not helpful in his aim to fight Davis instead it opens to the possibilities of his possible worries,


This would be the biggest fight of Gesta and possibly a good amount of money to earn but since Garcia doesn't want to fight in January, he(Gesta) was stripped of these possibilities and the title fight for the interim belt.  Hopefully, the fight will still go on.

This is a sad news, I was very excited about this fight because I was hoping to see a fellow Filipino fighting a great boxer and enable to showcase his talent to compete against one of the best boxer in his division.  Ryan Garcia backing out of the contract and wanting to fight Gervonta Davis directly makes me think that he has a doubt of his ability and that he is afraid that he may get beaten by this Filipino boxer.

I know Mercito Gesta is an underdog in this fight and as a matter of fact I think Gesta has a very slim chance to win this fight.


I hope Garcia be penalized buy the action of backing out of the fight if the contract has already been signed.


I would like to hear the update in favor of Gesta's.

I don't think that there is a sign contract yet, as far as I know, it took weeks for Ryan to give the name of his supposedly tune up fights. And then it just surfaced that he will be facing an old and past prime Gesta but still can pull the trigger.

So we can't blame Ryan for backing up if there is no written contract, he can do that by all means.

I did try to look at Gesta's twitter page but so far no update about this fight being cancelled.

https://twitter.com/therealmgesta

And it seems that he is hard on training.

If that is risky then I think we should worry about this fight, however, I see it differently, Ryan Garcia cherry-picked this fight, so he must know how to beat him. Ryan has the power and the speed, but maturity in boxing, not sure about that, but I'm pretty sure his weapon is enough to beat Gesta.

Yeah, for sure he will be the favorite in this fight, maybe 4:1 per betting odds. So his team picks a fighter that they can beat, but will give Ryan sort of test as well because as we have said, Gesta may have some flashes of Davis, lefty and strong puncher.

But maybe Garcia doesn't want to go to this tune up as he mentioned, but he will be confident enough to win or motivated to face Davis right away.

We have no choice but to wait for the betting odds, well, it's expected that Garcia will be the heavy favorite since he is a popular boxer and the champion. Maybe the odds for Garcia would be from 1.05 to 1.10 to win, and for Gesta, it should be a very attractive odds, but would you be attracted with the odds?

Age matters a lot because if not, Pacman would easily be able to beat Ugas when they fought. I guess this is the last chance for Gesta to prove that he is still good in this competition, at least he was able to fight a champion and a chance to get his belt if this is a championship fight. I love Filipino boxers but I gotta admit here, Gesta is too old for a young Garcia.

I think we will not see the odds for this proposed fight mate because as what i have read in a news article that Ryan Garcia has opted out because he want to go directly to that fight with Tank Davis.

No concrete reason for scraping this fight but i think that Gesta being a high-risk might also be a factor because this might derail Garcia's planned showdown with Davis. Might also be that "mental problem" with Garcia is back hehe.

https://www.boxingscene.com/ryan-garcia-opts-go-straight-gervonta-davis-fight-with-mercito-gesta-no-longer-play--171219

Pilipino boxers are not mutants and of course, they also get themselves in trouble when they face an opponent that can take their punches and outspeed them. I discover this reality when I watch how Donaire was defeated by Guillermo Rigondeaux in his prime. He even got dominated when fighting Inoue in his old version. I think this will gonna happen to Gesta since he is not that good at taking some solid punches and cannot keep up with fighting high-speed opponents such as Garcia. anyway, a fight is still a fight and they will gonna unleash their fists next year and will gonna prove us what is real and not our speculations.

Gesta is a good bettor in boxing as I remember, no exaggeration, based on what I have seen during his betting in the ring, it's fair to say Gesta is the best bettor, all of that regardless of the results of several matches and Gesta's career.

I'm pretty sure the boxing between Garcia vs. Gesta, my prediction is Gesta will easily beat Ryan Garcia, I've seen how Gesta bet well in the ring, he has complete skills and abilities seta with some punching power that can be said to be quite stunning and quite good.

Maybe I'll see Manny Pacquiao's tactics and style in the next Gesta vs. Garcia, I see the Gesta having an heir from Pacquiao, this will appeal to each of the boxing fans they idolize.

No longer interested with sparring type fight but wanted to go directly against Davis, something that his camps need to settle against Gesta's camps. If he really don't want to fight now then there's nothing that we can do, we will not see these fight to happen as Garcia choose to prepare himself against Davis and will no longer give Gesta a chance to meet him inside the ring,.

There is a reported article[1] about Garcia and Gesta signing a contract.  It was reported by ESPN's Mike Copinger.

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Yeah, Garcia wanted to focus on Davis and Garcia doesn't want to have an extra fight before his dream fight against Davis.  Garcia explains that it is not all about money or an easy fight, he just wanted to fight Davis straight and don't want to have any worries about another fight with Gesta[2], he just wanted to focus on Davis.  Besides, he said that he is used to long lay-offs before the fight and the fight with Mercito Gesta would change the routine which is new to him.

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[1] https://www.badlefthook.com/2022/12/11/23503764/ryan-garcia-vs-mercito-gesta-reportedly-signed-january-28-phoenix-dazn-boxing-news-2022
[2] https://www.boxingscene.com/ryan-garcia-explains-passing-on-gesta-its-not-about-money-easy-fights-im-focused-on-tank--171260

I don't know if their decision to cancel the tune-up fight will help Ryan Garcia's situation or not, it would be a good chance for him to prepare against his fight with Davis because this Gesta is also touted to be like Davis too, but less risky because the latter's career is already going down. Nonetheless, there's a particular reason why they didn't push through the tune-up fight.

If Ryan Garcia is used to long lay-off in every fight, then there is no doubt that Ryan Garcia wanted to stay at his comfort zone.  There is no doubt that fighting Mercito Gesta will not help him prepare for Davis but rather it will only break his routine and might end up badly since he isn't used to short lay-offs and possibly Garcia is used to long preparation before a fight. 


I do not think Gesta is like Davis, I believe Gesta is the poor version of Davis at most and that is not helping Garcia to prepare for Davis.  I watch some of Gesta's fights, and I believe Gesta would be KO'ed in the fight if the boxing officials will push the fight on Jan.  Gesta has lots of openings when he is to engage besides he has the tendency to just stand while covering when pummeled by a barrage of punches and I think that will cost him the fight to the likes of Ryan Garcia.

And for me if Garcia will perform well in this fight he will gain more hypes in his career, not sure why he thinks that he doesn't need the tune-up against Gesta, just an opinion maybe his camp see something that might be a disadvantage to them, maybe in this fight he can be exposed by Gesta and Davis will be more ready for him.

Just my own cents, but whatever it is, those fans who wanted to see Garcia before the Davis fight will surely be curious why he did not want this fight to happen anymore.

Probably Garcia is getting lazy;D.  he doesn't want any preparation but only for Davis.  If we look at it, a different boxer needs different preparation, I believe Garcia thinks that Gesta fight is just a diversion and may cost him his focus on Davis's fight.  Besides, it was said that Garcia used to have a long idle time before his major fight so that is probably another reason.



It is very possible that the camp or Garcia has seen something on Gesta that he became afraid of thus canceling the fight for a reason that he wanted to focus on Davis.

We don't know their reasons but of course, they have something in consideration that we don't know about.
But this tune-up fight is a needed one to know where Garcia at with his preparation with Davis.
Anyway, if Garcia will directly fight Davis, I believe, Garcia will be the underdog on this match.
A long lay-off for me is not advisable as he will be needing a lot of preparations before the fight as you need to condition your body.

The reason is already cited in many articles, Garcia wanted to fight Davis directly and he has no time for tune up fight because he thinks that it will meddle with his strategy.  I do not think Garcia needed a tune up fight, he can have a sparring practice, and do his daily routine of preparation.  Besides fighting a different style boxer can mixed up your strategy to your focused target.  So I think Garcia made a right call in avoiding Gesta even though he thinks that Gesta is an easy fight.

So you are saying that the Gesta fight will not happen?

I think both Garcia and Davis have their own respective tune up fight before the big fight, but now Garcia choose not to have one? I'm surprise with this news if it's true because all the while, I thought he is preparing for Gesta to have an impressive win.

I am not the one saying it, it is Ryan Garcia that stated that he is passing on Gesta : Ryan Garcia Explains Passing on Gesta: "It’s Not About Money, Easy Fights, I'm Focused On Tank (http://Ryan Garcia Explains Passing on Gesta: "It’s Not About Money, Easy Fights, I'm Focused On Tank)



As much as I wanted to see the fight to happen between Mercito Gesta and  Ryan Garcia, we can't do anything about it since Ryan Garcia is the one who wanted the fight not to happen. I am also surprised about the news, I thought a Filipino boxer will have his chance for an interim belt title bout and a possible title shot against Davis if Mercito Gesta get lucky and beat Ryan Garcia, but then the possibility become impossible due to Garcia opt not to fight on January against Gesta.

It is already true, links just several posts above you, from his social media as well, so it's official, no more tune up fight for him.

And Ryan said, it's not about those easy fights and the money that comes with it, he just want to focus on the Tank Davis fight as this is the most important fight in his young career. Just too bad for Gesta just to be passed on, but he can't do anything as he is not the A-side on this fight and we all know that he will supposedly used by Ryan in preparation against Tank Davis.

I love the decision, maybe he thinks that Gesta is too old for him and he will just win anyway, so instead of wasting time, he will just focus on the upcoming big fight. So what Davis response to this? Is he gonna cancel his fight too, or would just let it happen?


Gesta's career is not over but he will never be a champion, so I guess bad for him because he lose the opportunity to fight Garcia but good because he does not have to suffer the heavy punches of Garcia.

He just doesn't want a back to back fight too early next year, and he said that he wants to focus on that one fight against Tank, so he bypass Gesta.

If the thinks that Gesta is too old for him then that is a wrong mindset so I doubt that it is in Ryan or Goosen (his trainer) will have in mind. They just want to preserved the best version by not taking any tune up fight early and rush things up.

Not sure as well if ever this fight go and then Gesta upsets Garcia that he will go directly to Tank for whatever belt Davis holds.

Thanks for sharing that article mate, since it's coming from Ryan Garcia, then this thread has no more purpose anymore. @OP, you can close this thread as this fight is canceled already since Garcia decided to skip this one and will only focus on Davis.

Yup, locking this thread now as this will not happen due to Ryan Garcia's opting out of this fight. He said that this is an easy fight but TBH, this is not because even if Gesta has not fought for some time now, he could derail that Garcia's mega-fight with Tank Davis if he could hit that glass chin of Ryan Garcia.