Despite the controversial scorecard of judges, Mercito Gesta will be relishing his split-decision victory vs Joseph Diaz Jr, who was labelled as the favorite ahead of this match, know the fight purse & payout
At a moment when Joseph Diaz Jr. was in desperate need of a redemption victory, Mercito Gesta rose to the challenge and ruined his rival’s plans. The California judges found it to be simply too difficult to accurately score the main event’s thrilling 10 rounds. In the end, Gesta won their impromptu main event on Saturday night from the Walter Pyramid on the California State University-Long Beach campus by a split decision.
Mercito Gesta vs Joseph Diaz Jr purse, payouts, winner, fight card results, highlights and score
MERCITO GESTA DEFEATS JOJO DIAZ BY SPLIT DECISION 🇵🇭#DiazJrGesta pic.twitter.com/NtPcsc0yOs
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 19, 2023
With his spirited victory against Joseph Diaz through a split decision, Mercito Gesta will be eligible for the $275,000 confirmed purse. According to reports, Joseph Diaz Jr. will receive $300,000 excluding PPV earnings. Gesta’s crushing victory over Joseph will help him land more marquee fights in the future, even though it’s uncertain how much money these boxers will make from pay-per-view after this fight.
Golden Boy Promotions-promoted Diaz and Gesta squared off in a bout that included plenty of hand-to-hand combat. Both fighters are southpaw veterans, and the match nearly sold out. One judge gave the fight a score of 97-93 to Diaz, while the other two gave Gesta’s scores of 98-92 & 99-91 to extend Gesta’s record to 34-3-3 in professional boxing.
Full Fight Card Results
- Joseph Diaz lost against Mercito Gesta: Lightweight
- Oscar Duarte Jurado defeated Alex Martin: Lightweight
- Eric Tudor won against Damoni Cato-Cain: Light middleweight
- Patricio Manuel defeated Hien Huynh: Super featherweight
Mercito Gesta vs Joseph Diaz Jr: match events & post-match reactions
Owing to Ramirez’s weight increase, the scheduled main-event Gilberto Ramirez vs. Gabe Rosado was cancelled and their fight was replaced with Gesta vs. Diaz serving as the main event. Gesta and Diaz didn’t let fans down by putting on a tight, competitive battle. As the busier boxer with the higher punch volume, Gesta frequently started rounds with more vigor, which made a significant difference.
Gesta was the more active fighter and pounded Diaz with more than enough blows to gain the momentum of the fight. Although Diaz stalked Gesta brilliantly to win rounds when he punished the Filipino against the ropes, Gesta kept the score in his favor. Additionally, Gesta was able to produce enough potent counters while under pressure to slightly outpunch the harder puncher. Ultimately, Gesta was announced as the winner after the judges scored the bout 99-91, 98-92, 93-97 in his favor.