Highlights and results: Gesta scores split decision win over Diaz

In a fight that heavily relied on what kind of style you preferred, Gesta impressed a majority of the judges.

Mercito Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) pulled off the big win in DAZN’s makeshift main event tonight, getting the nod on the judges scorecards in a split decision over JoJo Diaz (33-4-1, 15 KOs) after 10 rounds of action. The fight began with Gesta fighting at quick pace and rattling off punches, but many of them didn’t have much authority behind them.

Alternatively, Diaz was consistently stalking behind a high guard and landing the more effective singular punches, but his output was much behind that of Gesta which turned out to make the biggest difference on the cards with the judges.

The fight was largely a matter of the kind of fighting style you prefer in terms of scoring it, which was also reflected on the judges scorecards which were wide in both directions: one judge turning in a 97-93 card in favor of Diaz, and two other judges turning in cards of 99-91 and 98-92 for Gesta. I edged the fight 96-94 to Diaz on clean, effective punching, and kind of feel like whomever you thought deserved to win, the fight was closer than all the official scorecards indicated.

In any event, Gesta mentioned in the post-fight interview that he was pleased with his performance and will look for better things to come. As far as Diaz goes, his future as a top level fight seems to be just about finished — but even if not he’ll have some serious rebuilding to do in and out of the ring.

Diaz vs Gesta highlights

Undercard results

• Oscar Duarte TKO-8 Alex Martin (1:14)

• Eric Tudor UD-8 Damoni Cato-Cain (80-72, 78-74, 78-74)
• Dalis Kaleiopu UD-6 Jonathan Perez (60-52, 60-52, 60-52)