Undefeated junior welterweight Ernest “Tito” Mercado is staying active in the ring.
It was revealed on The Ring over the weekend that Mercado, one of boxing’s top prospects, will face Victoriano Santillan on February 10th. The eight-round match will be held at the C. Robert Lee Activity Center in Hawaiian Gardens, California.
The Mercado vs. Santillan fight will headline a nine-fight card from MarvNation Promotions that will be streamed live on the app (MarvNationTV, 9 ET/6 PT).
Mercado, 22, who lives near Pomona, has a record of 13-0 with 12 KOs. He fought five times in 2023 and was a finalist for Ring Magazine’s Prospect of the Year award due to his success against modest opponents.
His last fight on Nov. 11 saw him stop former fringe junior lightweight contender and lightweight contender Jeremiah Nakatila in the second round. In his previous fight on August 26, Mercado earned a first-round knockout victory over Paraguay’s Carlos Portillo.
One of his bouts last year was a knockout victory over former world title challenger Henry “Hank” Lundy on April 15th. All but two of his professional matches took place in the Los Angeles area.
Santillan (11-6-2, 8 KOs), of Buenos Aires, Argentina, stopped up-and-coming Benjamin Dubois in six rounds in his last fight on May 13th. He also fought fringe welterweight contender Yosif Panov but lost by a lopsided decision.
Also on the MarvNation Promotions card, undefeated lightweight prospect Mathias Radcliffe (6-0, 1, 4 KOs) of Reseda, Calif., will take on Cristian Lorenzo (3-5, 1 KO) of Los Angeles in a six-round bout.
Francisco A. Salazar has been writing for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. You can contact him at: [email protected]
