MERCITO Gesta still wants a fight with undefeated Ryan Garcia, but with the young, brash-talking American set to take on Gervonta Davis in a mega-fight next month, the California-based Filipino fighter is setting his sights on William Zepeda instead.
“If they (Zepeda camp) don’t have an opponent or any scheduled fight, let’s make it happen,” said Gesta on Monday (Manila time).
The 26-year-old Zepeda from Mexico, is undefeated in 27 fights, including 23 by KOs.
Gesta extended the challenge after pulling off a stunning split decision against former world champion Joseph Diaz at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California.
The 35-year-old Filipino, dubbed ‘No Mercy,’ won the action-packed fight by scores of 99-91 (Alejandro Rochin) and 98-92 (Pat Russell), with the other judge scoring it in favor of Diaz, 97-93 (Pam Hayashida).
Gesta’s upset of Diaz was even more magnified after it became the DAZN main event as the Zurdo Ramirez-Gabriel Rosado super-middleweight bout was scratched when Ramirez failed to make weight the day before.
The Filipino improved his record to 34-3-3 with 17 KOs and is in line to get a shot at some of the top guns in the super-lightweight division.
He was supposed to clash with Garcia in a tune-up fight last January, but the 24-year-old Garcia skipped the bout and instead, took the Davis fight right away.
Still, he’s open to facing Garcia in the future.
“I want to fight the best, and the best right now is Ryan Garcia,” said Gesta. “Those who are in my weight division I want to fight. And to get there, I have to prove myself.”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph