{"id":364693,"date":"2026-06-17T20:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T20:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/364693\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T20:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T20:44:14","slug":"ernesto-mercado-looks-to-steal-the-show-friday-in-long-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/364693\/","title":{"rendered":"Ernesto Mercado Looks To Steal The Show Friday In Long Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=boxingnews24.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"208\" alt=\"Add EBoxing News 24as a preferred source on Google\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/google.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqLAgKIiZDQklTRmdnTWFoSUtFR0p2ZUdsdVoyNWxkM015TkM1amIyMG9BQVAB?ceid=US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><br \/>\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"468\" height=\"128\" alt=\"Follow Boxing News 24 on Google News\" style=\"height:100%; width:auto; display:block;\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/follow-google-news.png\"\/><br \/>\n  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old Mercado has developed a reputation as a knockout artist, stopping 17 of his 18 opponents and emerging as a legitimate threat in the talent-rich 140-pound division. Unlike many prospects who are carefully maneuvered through the early stages of their careers, Mercado has openly embraced tougher assignments while keeping an aggressive, fan-friendly style.<\/p>\n<p>During Wednesday\u2019s media workout at Jackrabbit Boxing Gym in Long Beach, Mercado made it clear that his focus remains on delivering another statement performance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want every fight to show growth and improvement,\u201d said Mercado. \u201cMy goal is to become a world champion, and that means taking every opportunity seriously. The fans deserve excitement, and that\u2019s what I plan to deliver. I\u2019ve had a great camp, and I\u2019m looking forward to showcasing my skills on a major platform. Of course, you guys know I\u2019m going for the knockout!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For many observers, Mercado is the fighter on Friday\u2019s card with the brightest long-term future. The headlining bout features Diaz, whose career has declined sharply in recent years, against Sylve, who is still attempting to rebuild momentum after suffering a knockout loss to Lucas Baldi in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Mercado continues moving in the opposite direction. With his combination of power, finishing instincts, and growing experience, he appears to be closing in on the type of fights that could move him into the world-title conversation.<\/p>\n<p>The DAZN-streamed card also features unbeaten middleweight Amir Anderson against Jonas Sylvain in the co-feature, along with appearances by David Lopez, Joey Borrero, Kevin Gudino, and Daniel Mercado in his professional debut.<\/p>\n<p>If Mercado performs the way he has throughout most of his career, however, he could once again leave Long Beach as the fighter everyone is talking about when the night is over.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"182\" data-end=\"497\">Dan Ambrose is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24, recognized for his direct analysis and extensive coverage of the global fight landscape. His reporting focuses on major bouts, divisional developments, and the sport\u2019s most discussed storylines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 23-year-old Mercado has developed a reputation as a knockout artist, stopping 17 of his 18 opponents and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-364693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}