BoxRec

with all this interesting stuff on jeff merritt and jeff sims, are there any stories or recollections on bernardo mercado? i know all the stuff you can see from his record ie the wins and losses, but this columbian is pretty much an unknown fighter.

any memories? i know all about the way he iced berbick, and how he has the face of satan, but apart from that...

I got a story in a magazine somewhere. Gotta dig it out though.

if you would my friend, i'd love to hear it!

i was there the night he ko ed * berbick. a real knockout. the taz.

you ever met mercado joe? or even berbick for that matter? your impressions?

Berbick is an all around guy that means well, but he beats to his own drum. You talk to Trevor and then think to yourself.."huh?"

you ever met crazy old trevor cybox? you know hes pretty good for an old guy. a lot of the guys he beat at the end of his career destroyed alot of the other veterens.

he hung with Rahman and Thunder...a couple of bangers

I dated Bernardo Mercado for a while, he was a gentle giant and a great dancer. He taught me how to Cumbia. I wish I knew where he was and how he was doing.

Mercado could punch like a ton of bricks. He was feared in the gyms during the end of the 70s.

MEWZICAT wrote:I dated Bernardo Mercado for a while, he was a gentle giant and a great dancer. He taught me how to Cumbia. I wish I knew where he was and how he was doing.

Wow, that's a first! Mercado was a big, dangerous and clearly sensitive guy.
Was it any coincidence when Larry Holmes was defending against everyone, Mercado got missed out?

bennie wrote:

MEWZICAT wrote:I dated Bernardo Mercado for a while, he was a gentle giant and a great dancer. He taught me how to Cumbia. I wish I knew where he was and how he was doing.

Wow, that's a first! Mercado was a big, dangerous and clearly sensitive guy.
Was it any coincidence when Larry Holmes was defending against everyone, Mercado got missed out?

Mercado fought in an eliminator for Holmes' title against Leon Spinks, but got knocked out. He was managed by Joe Conforte, the brothel owner who also managed (and was allegedly involved in the death of) Oscar Bonavena.

Flump wrote:

bennie wrote:

MEWZICAT wrote:I dated Bernardo Mercado for a while, he was a gentle giant and a great dancer. He taught me how to Cumbia. I wish I knew where he was and how he was doing.

Wow, that's a first! Mercado was a big, dangerous and clearly sensitive guy.
Was it any coincidence when Larry Holmes was defending against everyone, Mercado got missed out?

Mercado fought in an eliminator for Holmes' title against Leon Spinks, but got knocked out. He was managed by Joe Conforte, the brothel owner who also managed (and was allegedly involved in the death of) Oscar Bonavena.

Aye, they certainly didn't make it easy for Mercado: Spinks still had something in 1980. Mercado probably deserved a straight shot after stopping Shavers.
Who wants to do any favours for a fighter managed by Conforte, however?

Wow, that's a first! Mercado was a big, dangerous and clearly sensitive guy.
Was it any coincidence when Larry Holmes was defending against everyone, Mercado got missed out?[/quote]

Mercado fought in an eliminator for Holmes' title against Leon Spinks, but got knocked out. He was managed by Joe Conforte, the brothel owner who also managed (and was allegedly involved in the death of) Oscar Bonavena.[/quote]

Aye, they certainly didn't make it easy for Mercado: Spinks still had something in 1980. Mercado probably deserved a straight shot after stopping Shavers.
Who wants to do any favours for a fighter managed by Conforte, however?[/quote]

Very true. The Berbick result looked great with hindsight too.

I guess it depends what favours Conforte could provide in return Bennie...

Trevor Berbick said after being KO'd in 1 round by Mercado "I proved I could take his best shot"

bollox wrote:Trevor Berbick said after being KO'd in 1 round by Mercado "I proved I could take his best shot"

Haha, really?! Still with Berbick nothing should surprise us. He threw the Tyson fight you know...

Not too sure if Trevor threw the fight. He was all over the place including having 2 eyes that were looking in different directions

p.s. during negotiations for a fight Berbick knocked on a promoter's door at 3am and said: "I've had a divine message from god. God told me to ask you for a $100K advance and said you'd give it to me". The promoter (it may have been Dennis Rappaport) replied "I just spoke to god a moment ago and he said not to give you a red cent"

Does anyone know if the Mercando vs Tex Cobb fight exists on video/dvd?... always wanted to see that fight between two of the eras best heavyweight brawlers...

Flump wrote:

bennie wrote:
Wow, that's a first! Mercado was a big, dangerous and clearly sensitive guy.
Was it any coincidence when Larry Holmes was defending against everyone, Mercado got missed out?

Mercado fought in an eliminator for Holmes' title against Leon Spinks, but got knocked out.

The Spinks fight is where my knowledge of Mercado largely begins and ends.

From looking at his record, I see he went 20-0 with numerous first round KOs, before being stopped quickly by a 12-0 John Tate in Madison Square Garden. Mercado had already fought in the Garden (and won by first round KO), so its possible he was the more well known and highly regarded prospect of the two at this time. I'd be very interested to know who was considered the favorite going into that fight.

I'm surprised Tate's people would take such a big chance on putting their prospect in against someone with Mercado's record, so soon into his career. Perhaps Mercado was somehow viewed as a soft touch with a padded record? Or perhaps Tate's people were simply confident of their man's ability (like Fernando Vargas when he was put in with Yori Boy Campas)?

After that Mercado was stopped again by Mike Weaver, who was still considered just a journeyman at that time, so that fight had to be damaging to any reputation he might've had then.

Mercado then scored his upset KO of Shavers to put himself into the mix of title contenders (also ending Shavers' days as a serious contender in the process). However, he never really distinguished himself from the rest of the pack of potential title challengers that were muddled together at that time. As said, the fight with Spinks was a title eliminator. I don't remember who was the favorite, but it was considered an impressive comeback performance by Spinks, who had been embarassed in his losses to Ali and Coetzee and figured to be on the decline then. Spinks bullied him all around the ring in that fight. It was probably the 2nd best performance of Spinks' career (after Ali, obviously), and was probably his last "prime" performance as well.

After that, I never heard from Mercado again.


BTW, isn't he related to Segundo Mercado somehow? I thought I remembered hearing that, but I could be wrong...

cybox wrote:Berbick is an all around guy that means well, but he beats to his own drum. You talk to Trevor and then think to yourself.."huh?"

You know he's no longer among the living, right?

EriqS wrote:

cybox wrote:Berbick is an all around guy that means well, but he beats to his own drum. You talk to Trevor and then think to yourself.."huh?"

You know he's no longer among the living, right?

Not at the time our friend cybox posted that comment.

Exactly. Its worth checking the dates before making smart ar#e comments -- this is a relic of a thread!

I love the way 'My2sense' started off by saying his knowledge of Mercado is limited to the Leon Spinks fight, yet then went on a long essay clearly based on simply looking at Mercado's record.

Hes not related to Segundo Mercado, but Segundo did have a brother who was also beat up by Hopkins in one of his early fights.

Tex Cobb v Mercado should be on tape, it was on a Don King undercard, think Holmes v Snipes. Cobb said the hardest punch he ever caught was thrown by Earnie Shavers. Every other hardest punch came from Bernardo Mercado (!).

What is it with Mercado and women?

A few years back we had someone claiming to be his daughter starting a thread asking questions about his career... now we get one of his girlfriends in this thread.

I can't remember any other boxer in the history of Boxrec who has managed to bring two different women to venture in this male infested environment.

Mercado was a banger pure & simple. But, he couldn't box a lick.

The first time I saw him fight was back when I was about 16 & I was tuned into the old CBS Late Night Fights. Mercado was unbeaten at the time & facing a slick veteran/journeyman/sparring partner-type in Horace "Big City" Robinson. A fellow he'd already decisioned previously.

That night, Robinson took him the limit again & boxed circles around mercado, but got ripped off by the judges. As NMercado threw a lot & went forward throughout, but landed next to nothing. While "Big City" smacked him silly.

Shortly after that, I saw in the paper that John Tate stopped him in two, which was odd because though a big guy, he didn't have a whole lot of power ...
Then I saw the Weaver upset in The Ring & figured he was done.

But, the following year he got the Shavers fight on ABC & he was put in the opponents role as they seemed to be grooming ol' Earnie for another run. And Shavers started out strong, dropping & battering the big Columbian in what seemed like a mismatch. But, then one of the fighter's gloves wound up ripped & it took FOREVER for them to replace it. After which, Shavers seemed totally spent & Mercado came on like a completely different guy. Cutting Shavers over the eye badly & battering him along the ropes for a TKO7.

Which put him into the Spinks fight which, other than the first Ali contest, was probably the all time best performance by "Neon" Leon. Spinks was all over Mercado, stayed on his chest all night long, wore him out & stopped him in the 'BC final eliminator. Which killed the columbian's chances for a shot at Holmes.

Which, he rebounded from a bit & had a shot at Holmes all lined up for him by King. All he had to do was get past "Tex" Cobb, but again, Mercado came up short. Losing in 10.

So, his man King tried to get him into a position to contest Holmes for a shot, infact, the fight was announced as pending on a couple of occassions, but an untimely loss would always screw it up. Not that Holmes would've been troubled by Mercado, because all he'd do have to do is avoid his big ( but slow-ish ) right hand before going on to score one of his seemingly patented TKO7s.

joe kurtz wrote:... Not that Holmes would've been troubled by Mercado, because all he'd do have to do is avoid his big ( but slow-ish ) right hand before going on to score one of his seemingly patented TKO7s.

?

Others recall Holmes more for his close escapes against novice level young heavyweights such as Tim Witherspoon, Renaldo Snipes, and Charles Williams.

Not to mention Holmes' singular distinction of being the first heavyweight champion in the entire history of the division to lose his title to a lightheavyweight.