Vázquez Routs Gesta to Maintain His Lightweight World Title

The fifth time’s still a charm for Miguel Ángel Vázquez

The 25-year-old Mexican boxer has easily retained his lightweight world title for the fifth time, scoring a landslide decision win against Mercito Gesta on Saturday.

Miguel Ángel Vázquez

The fight  (26-1-1, 14 KOs) in a fight that was frustrating to watch and elicited booing from the crowd.

Vazquez (32-3, 13 KOs) won 119-109, 118-110, 117-111 in a fight that many called “frustrating to watch,” one that even elicited booing from the crowd.

ESPN.com had it for Vazquez by shutout, 120-108. Vazquez is considered an effective boxer, but that really doesn’t make crowd-pleasing fights, and he was at it again against Gesta (26-1-1, 14 KOs). He spent long spans of the fight circling and picking his shots one at a time.

“The game plan was to box and keep him on the outside,” Vazquez said. “It worked perfectly.”

Gesta couldn’t get inside to do what he wanted, which was to try to rough up Vazquez. It led to plenty of booing from the crowd.

“He’s awkward,” Gesta said. “I never got a rhythm going in the fight.”