Jorge Linares breezes by Gesta
In the co-main event from The Forum in Inglewood, Ca. on HBO Boxing After Dark Jorge Linares retained his WBA Lightweight title, beating Mercito Gesta by unanimous decision (118-110, 117-111).
Linares started slow by his own standards while a game Gesta did well. By the third Linares was showing off his hand speed difference while Gesta seemed to stay too long in the pocket.
In the fourth Linares started to land four to five punch combinations, while Gesta showed a strong chin by eating some big punches. Gesta kept coming forward trying to land his punches and was able to catch Linares a few times with a right hook. In the seventh round Linares seemed to be in rhythm landing combinations at will while using his movement to avoid punches. Gesta was able to cause a cut over Linares’ eye in the eighth.
By the championship rounds Linares seemed to be in control turning it on and off as he pleased. The Filipino was game but Linares is simply a level above him. Linares improved to 44-3 with 27KOs while Gesta goes to 31-2-2, 17KOs. It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for the Venezuelan as he seems to want to face Vasyl Lomachenko.
By: Wilson Urena
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