Pacheco Moves A Step Closer

[IMPORTANT: Make this 4 times longer with much more detail]

Boxing Pacheco Moves A Step Closer by Rich Mancuso January 26, 2025 The 23-year-old Mexican-American Diego Pacheco added on another win to his resume on Saturday night in Las Vegas – Image Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom NEW YORK, NY — Diego Pacheco is on the verge of a championship opportunity and got a step closer Saturday evening at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas after a 12-round unanimous decision win over 36-year old veteran Steven Nelson. Though, the 23-year old Pacheco (Mexican-American) from south central Los Angeles has a task ahead. The super middleweight division (168) still has the name of Canelo Alvarez as the unified champion, minus though the IBF title that is in the hands of William Skull, that was stripped from Alvarez (WBC, WBA, WBO) for not facing their mandatory opponent. Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez proved to be too much for Puerto Rico’s Edgar Berlanga during their bout in September of 2024 in Las Vegas – Image Credit: Ray Del Rio/PBC Regardless, Alvarez is scheduled for two fights again this year in May and September, a possible clash with Terence Crawford. The two are always in the talk as the top rated pound-for-pound and that would be a mega fight for the sport that is in demand. Crawford, though would move up in weight to challenge Alvarez, a current champion at super welterweight (154), For the moment, though, Pacheco (23-0-18 K0’s) is basking with his latest win and in position for a title opportunity. He had a struggle with Nelson (20-1, 16 KO’s) that was streamed worldwide on DAZN. He may not be ready for Alvarez but big paydays are ahead with Edgar Berlanga (Puerto Rico) or Jaime Munguía (Mexico), both went the distance with the champion last year in quest to dethrone the face of boxing and lost 12-round unanimous decisions. Mexico vs. Mexico from last May where Canelo Alvarez defeated Jaime Munguía – Image Credit: Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) Pacheco retained his WBO International and WBC USA 168-pound titles. Nelson opened strong, controlling the early rounds by pressuring Pacheco and keeping him on the backfoot with aggressive pacing. Nelson seemed to confuse Pacheco throughout the fourth, Pacheco, though, managed to land a strong right to the left eye of Nelson, opening a cut that would bother him for the next several rounds. After closing the fourth round strongly, Pacheco began to find his rhythm in the fifth round, handily controlling the distance and speed of the fight and landing hard shots as the blood from Nelson’s cut continued to be an issue. With his win over Steven Nelson on Saturday night, Diego Pacheco keeps moving up the ranks – Image Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom “I prepared for everything, but I didn’t prepare to get cut,” Nelson said, who is affiliated with the camp of Crawford from Omaha, Nebraska. “So, when I felt the blood coming down and it got in my eyes, that threw my whole game plan off. That’s what took me out of the game early on in the fight,” he said about the cut after the fight.” Pacheco alluded to gaining more improvement. He showed in the last two rounds what was needed and when asked said Berlanga or Munguía could be on the agenda. Though promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom said his prospect may need one or two more fights before eyeing a title opportunity. “These are the fights you learn from the most,” said Pacheco. “I had to dig deep. The guy has a tough chin. Almost ready, not yet,” Pacheco commented about vying for a championship. “Need those guys in the top five,” alluding to the big opportunities that may await him soon. “When you have a guy in the ring with you that can take your punch and come back with his own as well, it really teaches you how to just find a way to win, and that’s what I had to do today,” he said. Diego Pacheco doubled the amount of shots landed by percentage, compared to Steven Nelson, 28%-14% – Image Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom In the end, Pacheco doubled Nelson’s percentage of shots landed, 28% to 14%, and out-landed him with 132 to 77 total shots, making it easy for the judges to score the fight. “Great performance, great win, and he is the WBO ranked number one contender,” said Hearn. “He’s number one in the world. We need those big fights for him now, and this was a good test. But he cleared it and now he can move on to the next level.” In the co-main event, unbeaten rising star Andy Cruz (5-0, 2 KOs) of Matanzas, Cuba successfully defended his IBF International and WBA Continental Latin America’s Lightweight titles, earning a unanimous decision against Omar Salcido (20-2, 14 KOs), of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, in a scheduled 10-round Lightweight contest with judges getting it right 99-91, 98-92, 98-92. Andy Cruz and his team celebrate after the win over Omar Salcido on Saturday night Image Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom Three-time amateur world champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Cruz was in control for the majority of the bout with superior technique, skill set and power. Salcido, had moments of success during the match, but Cruz countered his offensive efforts each time, including a dominant round four where he hurt Salcido with a left hook and followed up with flurries. Cruz continued to break down Salcido’s defense with precise combinations and clean right hands… Cuba’s very-own Andy Cruz completed precise combinations and clean right hands on Omar Salcido in their bout – Image Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom Undefeated power puncher, Ernesto “Tito” Mercado (17-0, 16 KOs) of Pomona, Calif, opposed former two-division world champion Jose “The Sniper” Pedraza (29-7-1, 14 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico in a scheduled 10-round Super-Lightweight bout. The contest concluded after four rounds when “Mercado” hit Pedraza with a devastating right hook, winning by technical knockout with 52 seconds left in the round (2:08 TKO, RD4), Mercado, 23, dominated the fight from the start, using a combination of head and body shots to wear down the 35-year-old Pedraza’s defense. By the third round, Pedraza was fighting off his back foot, where he struggled to land punches on Mercado. The finish came when Mercado landed several quick and powerful strikes to Pedraza’s face, dropping him to the floor and earning a convincing victory in a step-up fight. At the time of the stoppage, Mercado had landed 54 power punches compared to only seven from Pedraza. Ernesto Mercado landed 54 power punches on Jose Pedraza Saturday night – Image Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom “It feels great to be back in the ring, especially here in Las Vegas,” said 23-year-old Mercado. “You have all the haters here looking at three-division champion Shakur Stevenson. This victory is definitely worthwhile.” When asked what it meant to face off against someone as experienced as former champion Pedraza, Mercado said: “I just stayed calm. He was trying to come forward and wear me out. I think he thought I was going to try to knock him out right away, but I was conserving my energy and staying calm, picking my shots, hitting the body, and I saw the perfect shot and I knocked him out.” Rich Mancuso is a senior writer and contributor at LatinoSports.com – X (@Ring786), Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso Rich Mancuso hosts Keep It in The Ring Thursday evening live 8pm ET on YouTube with boxing, pro wrestling and MMA analysis. Comment and subscribe to Rich Mancuso @YouTube Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content Instagram: @latinosportsoficial Facebook: Latino Sports Twitter: @latinosports Related Topics Andy Cruz boxing Canelo Alvarez Cuba DAZN Diego Pacheco Ernesto Mercado featured Jaime Munguía Jose Pedraza Las Vegas Matchroom Boxing Mexico Omar Salcido Puerto Rico Steven Nelson Terrence Crawford Click to comment Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment * Name * Email * Website Advertisement Facebook Latest Article Baseball / 4 months ago Division 1 Baseball Schools to play in inaugural “Puerto Rico Challenge” NEW YORK, NY — For the first time in Puerto Rico’s history, from February… By Latino Sports Baseball / 11 mins ago Letters from the Beyond: From Bob Feller to Max Scherzer – Cartas desde el Más Allá: De Bob Feller para Max Scherzer My admired Max: I congratulate you with all my heart, because after turning 40… By Juan Vené Baseball / 11 mins ago Mets Do Not Want 1B Pete Alonso – Mets No Quieren al 1B Pete Alonso “The only thing we’ll take with us from this life is the amount of… By Juan Vené Boxing / 20 hours ago Pacheco Moves A Step Closer NEW YORK, NY — Diego Pacheco is on the verge of a championship opportunity… By Rich Mancuso Basketball / 22 hours ago No. 8 Michigan St. Deflates Large Rutgers Crowd At The Garden NEW YORK, NY — Rutgers Men’s Basketball had a tall task Saturday afternoon against… By Julian Guilarte More in Boxing Latino Dominance of Boxing: What To Expect NEW YORK, NY — Get ready boxing fans because the dull period of January… Juanmita López will make his professional debut on the same card as Xander Zayas at the Madison Square Garden Theater The following first appeared in elnuevodia.com. It was translated and edited for our readers… The Devastating and Unforgettable Loss in Jaime Munguía’s Career NEW YORK, NY — The 28-year-old Mexican boxing superstar Jaime Munguía fell short on… Knockout of the Year in Mexico NEW YORK, NY — Jaime Munguía never saw this punch coming in the sixth… Latino Dominance of Boxing: What To Expect