Golden Boy Promotions returns to the Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California for Joel Diaz Jr. vs. Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta. The Golden Boy Fight Night event will be broadcast live on DAZN and takes place on April 21.
Diaz Jr. (26-2, 22 KOs) is 30 years old and still has dreams of becoming a world champion and won’t let two losses detract him from his dream.
Diaz comes from the Palmdale, California area and will be the hometown favorite over the Filipino Mercito Gesta who is based out of San Diego, California.
Gesta (32-3-3, 17KOs) comes from the Philippines and trains out of the Wild Card boxing gym in Hollywood under the watchful eyes of Freddie Roach and Marvin Somodio.
The Filipino southpaw had two chances at a world title but failed in both attempts. The first shot a title came in 2012 against Miguel Vazquez who held the IBF lightweight title, Gesta would eventually lose in a very boring fight by unanimous decision.
The second attempt came in 2018 when he took on WBA lightweight champion Jorge Linares in a hard fought bout but would also lose via unanimous decision.
On Thursday night, Gesta will attempt to salvage his career and desperately needs a win because his last two fights were a KO loss to Juan Antonio Rodriguez and a Technical Draw to Carlos Morales both in 2019. He hasn’t fought since and this will be his first fight back.
This will be a crossroads fight for Diaz and Gesta, both fighters have never won a title belt and were once considered two of the most promising young prospects in the sport only to hit a few roadblocks, the winner moves forward to contender status while the loser has to regroup and climb the ladder again.
The card will also feature undefeated up and coming talent such as Jousce Gonzalez (11-0-1, 10KOs) of Covina, California taking on Jairo Lopez (26-14, 17KOs) of Apodaca, Mexico in a lightweight bout and Manuel Flores (11-0, 8KOs) of Coachella, California facing Victor Ruiz (23-12, 16KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico in a bantamweight bout.
Fight Card
Lightweight – Joel Diaz Jr. vs. Mercito Gesta
Lightweight – Jousce Gonzalez vs. Jairo Lopez
Super Featherweight – Jorge Chavez vs. Miguel Marquez
Bantamweight – Manuel Flores vs. Victor Ruiz
Flyweight – Jan Salvatierra vs. Ernie Marquez
How to Watch Diaz vs. Gesta Online
The fight will take place on Thursday, April 21, 2022 at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT and will be shown online through the DAZN live streaming app service, for more information on how to watch Thursday’s event and other boxing events visit: www.dazn.com
