Mercito Gesta was hyped as a potential "next Manny Pacquiao" at one point, but like Steve Forbert as the next Dylan, he fell well short tonight against Miguel Vazquez, completely outclassed in his bid for the IBF lightweight title, losing on score of 117-111, 118-110, and 119-109. BLH scored it 120-108 for Vazquez.

Vazquez (33-3, 13 KO) controlled from the get-go and was never challenged by Gesta (26-1-1, 14 KO), whose performance was frankly terrible, and made him look like a complete pretender. Vazquez is a tough guy to battle, no doubt; a good fighter, awkward, and hard to hit, but Marvin Quintero did far better than Gesta in Vazquez's last fight, and nobody considers Quintero any kind of star.

Simply put, Gesta was way, way out of his league, and was exposed badly by this step up in class. The fight wasn't remotely competitive, and was about as dull as it gets, too, with Vazquez peppering Gesta whenever he needed to, but inflicting no damage. No risks were taken.

Our live coverage of Pacquiao-Marquez IV continues here, with Yuriorkis Gamboa vs Michael Farenas up next.