Mistakes were made. There are fundamental suggestions that must be considered when starting a boxing career: do not take a fight on short notice, do not fight anyone you have not seen fight, do not fight a man in his own home town, except for your first fight, do not take any four-round fights. None of these suggestions were followed when Gessuri faced Christian Romero in Texas December 11, 2021.

 

Finding bantamweight fights is difficult in the U.S. Boxers are simply too big. Gessuri’s team received a call on Monday for a fight that Saturday. The team knew only a little about Romero and knew the fight would be a tough one. The opponent was discussed with Gessuri. He said he wanted to fight. If that was the only fight he could get he would accept. The fight was in Romero’s home town. The fight was also a four-rounder. If a man is knocked down in a four-round fight he cannot win by decision, thus the reason to take only six-round fights and longer, especially for someone like Gessuri who is a distance boxer.

 

Gessuri, off-balance, suffered a flash knockdown in the first round. “I got my feet tangled up and could not keep my balance.” His fate was sealed. Although Romero was edging out the rounds, Gessuri started to come on and figure him out when the fight was over. One can’t cry over spilled milk, or blood and Gusseri looked forward to his next fight, one for which he had time to prepare; a six-round fight scheduled at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, Washington on March 12.

 

The “Battle of Bellevue” returned boxing to Washington and helped to pull the sport from the covid slump. Promoted by Makina Promotions, it proved to be a bang-up affair with unusually even-matched bouts. Makina says they are determined to offer fights where the outcomes are not known in advance. Featured on the card were Jesus Saracho (10-0) vs. Deonte Brown (14-0), and Jonathan Fierro (12-0) vs. Daniel Bailey (10-0). Even the lesser fights were evenly matched. Jose Cervantes (2-0) vs. Margarito Hernandez (1-1-1) is an example.

 

The promotional company said, “We are here to put on decent fights, not to build personal records.”

 

Boxing has often suffered from poor matchmaking and poor judging. Many former fans have turned from boxing to MMA as a result.

 

Gessuri (2-1-1) stepped into the ring against Yakama’s Gilberto Duran (3-5-0). He was determined to feature his skills and to get back on track. He is a much better skilled boxer than Duran. Duran is the harder puncher. His three wins were all by knockout.

 

Gussari started to show his skill in the first round as he moved Duran around the ring. Duran attempted to keep his distance and fired only occasionally. Round two was a different story. Gussari went down hard. No one thought he would rise. He rolled over to his right shoulder and staggered to his feet at the nine-count. He remained in the ring but his eyes were somewhere over Montana and his legs in Idaho. Had the referee stopped the fight at that point no one would have complained. He waved them together.

 

Gussari held on. As his head started to clear he stepped back and started to throw. The punches were strictly from instinct, a bit wild, and he left his head open again. Down he went. There was no getting up this time. All those years and years of work, the thousands of punches thrown, the hundreds of miles run, gone in an instant. In few endeavors can a career end so abruptly, so suddenly that a person does not even know it is over.  And a boxer never thinks his career is over.

 

Walking slowly to the dressing room is the loneliest walk in the world. Although surrounded by people who care you are in an empty field, an empty forest, in an existentialist world void of everything except yourself and a cacophony of thought drifting a maelstrom.

 

Now, having been down twice in three fights including a knockout, is the career over? One thing is certain, Gessuri in now in the opponent’s corner. Rising fighters will offer him fights because they think they can beat him. He can stay in the game because he likes to box; or, he can attempt to resurrect his career. That will take even more work because he will always be the underdog. Nothing can be done if he has a poor chin, no amount of exercise, and no amount of sparring.

                                                 

There have been some very decent boxers, even champions, who have had spotty careers. What Gessuri needs now is time to think and he must think, not as Gussari, but as someone objectively evaluating Gessuri.

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Episode 1: The Jalapeño Popper Ready for Pro Debut

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Episode 2: One Chocolate Malt, Please

 

Episode 3: Jalapeño Popper—Episode 3—Debut

 

Episode 4: Gessuri Brito—Episode 4—Why Boxing?

 

Episode 5: Gessuri Brito—Episode 5—From Prospect to Opponent

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