Mercito Gesta spars with Amir Khan

MANILA—Undefeated Filipino southpaw Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta (21-0-1, 11 KOs) has been sparring with WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and has looked good.

Gesta is training at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym for his July 9 Top Rank debut in the undercard of the WBA lightweight title fight between champion Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios and challenger Urbano Antillon at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

In an overseas telephone conversation with the Inquirer, Gesta’s co-manager and trainer Vince Parra said the 23-year-old Gesta went four rounds with the 24-year-old Khan on Saturday (Manila time).

“[Gesta] looked really good today,” said Parra.

“He got his respect. Mercito came out and showed his speed and was very competitive, very high-paced. He is showing his ability.”

Parra said sparring with world champion Khan was a good “learning experience” and will help Gesta “step up to the next level.”

Gesta, who also sparred two rounds with Khan last Wednesday, has three weeks left to train at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles before the fight.

“They got their first week of sparring out of the way and next week it’s going to heat up even more,” Parra said. “[Gesta] will be ready for anybody. With that kind of sparring and preparation he feels very confident.”

Strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who is back with Amir Khan after an earlier misunderstanding, told the Inquirer he thinks Gesta “is very good.”