Ernesto ‘Tito’ Mercado says he plans to put on a clinic on Saturday night against Antonio Moran at the Adventist Health Arena in Stockton, California, live worldwide on DAZN, so that the big names at Super-Lightweight sit up and take notice.
Mercado (17-0 16 KOs) takes on Moran (31-7-1 21 KOs) for the WBO International title, and the Pomona native hopes that victory will see him move into the top ten with the organization, whose World title belongs to Teofimo Lopez.
The champion puts his belt on the line in a blockbuster battle with Shakur Stevenson on January 31 in New York, live on DAZN, and Mercado plans to shine against the experienced Moran to make a future showdown with the winner of the Madison Square Garden clash become an appealing prospect to fight fans.
“Antonio has been in with everyone, and he’s given them all uncomfortable moments and I expect nothing less here,” said Mercado. “He’s coming in off the back of a win, and he’ll be high on that, so we wanted a fight like this, to get a WBO belt and get that fight with Teofimo Lopez, so this is all building up to what I want.
“I want to fight both Teofimo and Shakur, so I’m almost a little disappointed that one of them is going to take an ‘L’ as it might diminish when I beat them but it should be a great fight and they are trying to put on the best fights which is really good. I think Shakur winning it, which is out of my favor as he’s not going to want to fight me, he’ll pass the belt on to Keyshawn Davis, as they have a little brother thing going on, so hopefully Teofimo wins and we get it on for the belt.
“A fight with Keyshawn would be perfect. He’s been out of boxing for a second, he went MIA, and I’d like to take him out permanently. We can make that fight happen next on the Lopez-Stevenson undercard, definitely.
“I was frustrated with the long layoff but it’s good to be jumping back in with an international belt on the line and it’s shaping up perfectly. I’m excited and I’m going to knock this guy out and go and get that World title belt. I’ve been calling these guys out for a while, but it’s been crickets, but once I’m number one with all the organizations, you can’t say anything no more.”
Mercado’s clash with Moran is part of a stacked night of action in Stockton, headlined by Los Angeles’ Super-Middleweight sensation Diego Pacheco taking on fellow unbeaten KO artist Kevin Lele Sadjo.
The co-main event of the night picks local fan favorite Gabe Flores Jr against former two-time World champion Joe Cordina in a World title eliminator for the WBO Lightweight strap, while anther former World champion, Skye Nicolson, takes on Yuliahn Luna for the WBC interim World Super-Featherweight title.
Arturo Cardenas and Cesar Vaca headline the prelims in a clash for the WBC Continental Americas Super-Bantamweight title, Briton Chev Clarke is in action over eight rounds against Anthony Hollaway at Cruiserweight, while local pair Sachery Sam and Cesar Olvera kick off the night, with Olvera taking on Victor Saravia over four rounds at Lightweight in the show opener, followed by Sam meeting Brandon Medina Guerrero over six at Featherweight.
