{"id":805523,"date":"2026-07-17T06:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/805523\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T06:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:14:09","slug":"ernesto-mercado-signs-with-salita-promotions-targets-loaded-140-pound-division","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/805523\/","title":{"rendered":"Ernesto Mercado Signs With Salita Promotions, Targets Loaded 140-pound Division"},"content":{"rendered":"

Undefeated light welterweight contender Ernesto \u201cTito\u201d Mercado has secured a long-term promotional deal with Salita Promotions and Wynn Records as he prepares for what he hopes will be the next stage of his career. The announcement comes less than a month before Mercado returns to the ring against former world title challenger Emmanuel Tagoe on August 15 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, live on DAZN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old Mercado (19-0, 18 KOs) enters the fight riding an eight-bout knockout streak and has rapidly climbed the rankings to No. 4 with the WBO and No. 5 with the IBF. With those positions, he is closing in on a title opportunity in one of boxing\u2019s deepest divisions.<\/p>\n

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Ernesto Mercado believes the new partnership gives him the ideal path toward a world title.<\/p>\n

\u201cDmitriy Salita and Ruben Branson saw the same thing my team has always seen in me, a future world champion. What made this the right fit was that it felt like family. That\u2019s important to me because boxing has always been a family business. My father has been my trainer since I was five years old, and I wanted to be with a team that believes in me, keeps me active, and shares the same vision for where my career is headed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were other opportunities, but this one felt different. Salita stays active, puts on quality shows, and keeps his fighters busy. I\u2019m an active fighter, and I want to fight the best as often as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mercado made it clear he is not interested in taking a slow route through the division. He specifically identified several of the weight class\u2019s biggest names, including Shakur Stevenson, Richardson Hitchins, Keyshawn Davis, Dalton Smith and Emiliano Vargas, as fighters he wants to pursue as his career advances.<\/p>\n

Before any of those bouts become realistic, Mercado must first defeat Tagoe (34-2, 16 KOs), who extended Ryan Garcia the full distance in 2022 and has lost only twice as a professional. Mercado views the matchup as another opportunity to strengthen his standing in the rankings while showing he belongs among the division\u2019s leading contenders.<\/p>\n

Robert Segal is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24 with more than a decade of experience covering fight news, previews, and analysis. Known for his straightforward reporting and ringside perspective, he delivers authoritative coverage of champions, contenders, and emerging talent worldwide.<\/p>\n

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Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb News<\/a> \u00bb Ernesto Mercado signs with Salita Promotions, targets loaded 140-pound division<\/p>\n

Last Updated on 2026\/07\/16 at 6:03 PM \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Undefeated light welterweight contender Ernesto \u201cTito\u201d Mercado has secured a long-term promotional deal with Salita Promotions and Wynn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":805524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-805523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}