Undefeated Lightweight southpaw Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta (25-0-1, 13 KOs) will meet Ty Barnett (20-2-1, 13 KOs) August 3 in the 10-round main event on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.
Former Light Middleweight Champion Shane Mosley, filling in for Teddy Atlas, will be ringside with Joe Tessitore at Texas Station Casino describing the action.
Main Event:
California’s Gesta has won his last 15 fights, including an April eighth-round TKO over Oscar Cuero.
After that fight, ESPN.com boxing writer Dan Rafael wrote: “Gesta opened the pay-per-view card with a solid victory against Cuero. He attacked Cuero’s body well and landed good right hands. Cuero absorbed a lot of shots and looked very weary going back to his corner after the sixth round. In the seventh round, Gesta, a southpaw, dropped him with a right hook to the body. Cuero’s pride got him to his feet by nine but he was falling apart. In the eighth round, Gesta landed a right to the temple that sent Cuero down to a knee. He got up, but he was toast and the referee stopped the fight at 1 minute, 38 seconds.”
Washington D.C.’s Barnett, a former stable mate of Anthony and Lamont Peterson is coming off a May seventh-round TKO win over Robert DaLuz.
“I am just going to go in there in do what I do best, any adjustments that need to be made I’ll make the adjustment”, said Barnett about facing Gesta. “Gesta has decent speed and a little power but at the end of the day it’s nothing that I haven’t seen.”
Co-Feature:
Friday’s co-feature will pit undefeated Lightweight Mickey Bey (18-0-1, 9 KOs) of Cleveland by way of Las Vegas, against “Red Hot” Rob Frankel (30-12-1, 6 KOs) of Denver. Bey, a 2004 U.S. Olympian, is coming off an eight-round decision win over Hector Velazquez, while Frankel will look to rebound from a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Cleotis Pendarvis.
The card is resented by Corona Extra and promoted by Top Rank Promotions. Friday’s show will air at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 HD, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN3 from Las Vegas. Studio host Bernardo Osuna will present all the latest boxing news and highlights, including a report by Atlas from the London Olympics updating the U.S. Boxing team. Alex Pombo and Delvin Rodriguez will call the fights for ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates (Friday Night Fights) with Leopoldo Gonzalez and Pablo Viruega in the studio.
Action will feature the “Live Friday Night Fights Facebook Voting App,” an application on the FNF facebook page allowing viewers to vote round-by-round.
