By Chris Williams: #5 IBF Mercito Gesta (26-0-1, 14 KO’s) is being given a title shot against IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez (32-3, 13 KO’s) in a Mexico vs. the Philippines type bout on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez bout on December 8th at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

The 5’7″ Gesta is eager to get inside the ring to fight Vazquez despite having little in the way of actual experience to warrant getting a title shot. Gesta fight for the promotional giant Top Rank, and Bob Arum likes the Gesta-Vazquez fight for this card for obvious reason given the huge Mexican and Filipino fan base that will be paying to watch the fight. I wouldn’t be surprised if Arum adds two or three other Mexico vs. Filipino match-ups for the card.

Gesta told Examiner.com writer Chris Robinson “I really want that title shot. That’s why I watched the fight [Vazquez vs. Marvin Quintero]…We need to have a game plan for this guy.”

The likelihood of Gesta coming up with a game plan to defeat Vazquez are about zero. Gesta is too short, his arms are too short and his boxing ability is pretty limited. Gesta won’t beat Vazquez without controversy. I expect Vazquez to lose this fight by a controversial decision. I can’t see a fighter like Gesta being given a loss because he’s too popular.

I already saw Gesta get one controversial decision against the best fighter he’s ever faced in Manuel Perez in a fight where Perez made Gesta look really limited. Vazquez is on a much higher level than Perez in my view, and with his long arms, excellent defense, and slick style of fighting, I can’t see him getting hit all that much by Gesta in this fight. But I still think Vazquez won’t be given the decision, no way.

Arum is trying to turn Gesta into a popular fighter in the U.S. He’s already got a huge built in Filipino fan base in the U.S and around the world without ever having anyone really good. If Arum can get Gesta a title in this fight, Arum could have another popular Filipino champion to go along with his #1 money fighter Pacquiao and WBO super bantamweight champion Noniton Donaire.

I don’t see Gesta becoming a huge name in the U.S outside of his own built in fan base. Arum will have to be extra careful in matching Gesta to keep him away from guys like Adrien Broner and Antonio DeMarco because those guys would likely beat Gesta so badly that the judges wouldn’t even be involved in those fights. It would be pretty one-sided, but I don’t think Arum will ever let Broner or DeMarco fight Gesta. We’re not seeing Pacquiao fight Mayweather and Andre Berto. We’re also not seeing Donaire fight the top guys like Abner Mares and Guillermo Rigondeaux. I see the same thing happening with Gesta being matched carefully to keep him winning after he picks up the IBF strap against Vazquez by a likely controversial decision on December 8th.