Just like Will Arnett, we’re busy (and manly) here at TQBR. The Olympic boxing has us furiously tapping at keyboards and burning the midnight oil. The same thing cannot be said of the pro schedule which is rather, um, sparse this week.
There are three televised shows which, you might have been able to guess from this post’s title, are not exactly packed with marquee names. The Magdaleno bros, Diego and Jesse, are fighting on TeleFutura and ESPN2, respectively. The ESPN2 fight is headlined by Filipino lightweight Mercito Gesta. That’s more or less it, really.
- Mercito Gesta vs. Ty Barnett, Friday, ESPN2, Las Vegas. Comparing Filipino fighters to Manny Pacquiao is getting to be a bit of a boxing cliché, but it’s so easy goddamit! Especially with someone like lightweight Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta (25-0-1), a southpaw with a furious two fisted assault. Gesta faces Ty Barnett (20-2-1) of Washington DC, whose last two opponents (after a KO loss) have a combined record of 22-74-5. Barnett has never faced anyone remotely like Gesta, who will almost certainly overwhelm him. On the undercard, junior lightweight Mickey Bey (18-0-1) faces Robert Frankel (30-12-1). Bey’s record belies a couple of near losses in recent fights. Frankly, he’s Bey at or near his ceiling if he doesn’t add any new elements to his game. Fast hands will only get you so far when you have no power and an iffy chin. Junior featherweight prospect Jesse Magdaleno (10-0) facing Brazilian Aldimar Silva Santos (17-2) rounds out a rather poor FNF that’s really just a Top Rank showcase.
- The Rest. Heavyweight Deontay Wilder (23-0) fights Kertson Manswell (22-5) on Fox Deportes on Saturday. I find Manswell’s name inexplicably hilarious… Jesse’s older bro Diego headlines a TeleFutura card on Saturday from the exact same venue as the FNF show the night before. He’s fighting Antonio Davis (29-7) at junior lightweight. At least they won’t have to take the ring down… Brave Filipino junior flyweight Johnriel Casimero (16-2), who survived an ugly riot in Argentina after knocking out Luis Lazarte, demonstrates the size of his cojones (or however you say that in Tagalog) once again by travelling to Mazatlan, the hometown of undefeated Mexican Pedro Guevara on Saturday.
