Ernesto “Tito” Mercado is no longer in action tonight (Saturday, August 15) at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The 24-year-old Upland, California, native had his fight scrapped after both his original and replacement opponents missed weight.
Mercado (19-0, 18 KOs) was initially scheduled to face Ghana’s Emmanuel Tagoe (34-2, 16 KOs) in a super lightweight bout serving as the co-feature to Claressa Shields vs Kaye Scott.
Following the weigh-ins, Salita Promotions announced that Tagoe missed weight, coming in “roughly 10 pounds over the 140-pound contracted weight,” and was replaced by Roger Hilley (14-1, 9 KOs) of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Mercado and Hilley were then expected to square off at a 146-pound catchweight. On fight day, however, the promotion announced on social media that the bout was “officially off due to his late replacement opponent being unable to make the contracted weight.”
- Additionally, the scheduled title bout between Houston-based WBA light heavyweight champion Danielle Perkins (6-1, 3 KOs) and Iowa City’s Olivia Curry (7-3-2, 2 KOs) has also been canceled. Brooklyn native Perkins missed weight by four pounds.
Headlining the Saturday card in Atlanta, Flint’s three-division undisputed champion Claressa Shields (18-0, 3 KOs) challenges Australia’s Kaye Scott (5-1-1), who holds the unified WBA and WBC middleweight titles.
The new co-feature is a middleweight matchup between Troy Isley (16-0, 6 KOs) of Washington, D.C., and Joseph Hicks (12-1, 7 KOs) of Grand Rapids, Michigan.