Matchroom continues to reload its US stable.
The global promotional outfit has announced its recent signing of blue-chip prospect Ernesto ‘Tito’ Mercado. The 22-year-old junior welterweight was on hand at the Diego Pacheco-Maciej Sulecki DAZN show on August 31 in Carson, California. Both parties confirmed the partnership.
“Definitely on track for superstardom,” Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn said of his latest signing. “Fight news coming in for Tito. Great things are coming!”
Mercado (16-0, 15 knockouts) was the leading candidate for 2023 Prospect of the Yearand the award winner for BoxingScene.com. He fought and won five times on the year to earn those awards.
The year saw his only distance fight, a lopsided ten-round victory over Xolisani Ndongeni last July 8 in Managua, Nicaragua. Mercado has collected strikeouts in his other four outings. He first went in the seventh round before knocking out Jose Angulo last February 4 in Ontario, California. That was followed by a first-round stoppage of former title challenger Hank Lundy last April.
A ten round unanimous decision over Ndongeni was one and done as Mercado quickly resumed his knockout ways. He turned heads with his second round stoppage of durable and hard-hitting Jeremia Nakathila.
Three more knockout victories graced his active 2024 campaign. Most recently, Mercado stopped Hector Sarmiento (21-3) in the third round on a July 27 DAZN show in Detroit, Michigan.
The entire run came without the benefit of a major promoter or television platform behind him. It has changed exponentially. Trained and managed by his father ‘Neto’, Mercado now believes he has the muscle behind him to progress to the next level.
“Of course it’s every fighter’s dream to become world champion,” Mercado told reporters during Saturday’s media scrum. “But I want to become a superstar.
“I want to build with Matchroom, get multiple titles, fight around the world and win with Matchroom. It’s just my dream.”
