Diego Pacheco recalls peering out the window of his family’s South Central Los Angeles apartment, stunned by the commotion of screams as his cousin ran across a street outside, blood pouring from a gunshot wound, seeking refuge at Pacheco uncle’s nearby unit.
“There were so many negative influences around me,” Pacheco reflects.
Yet, inside his apartment, the young boy was shielded from the chaos of the danger beyond his front door by his parents, Federico and Maria.
“South Central made me who I am today, knowing I came from those humble beginnings and the violence – everything you can think of with the gangs and crime around,” Pacheco told BoxingScene recently.
“My parents did as much as they could and guided us to being better than that, to pursue making a better life and make it out of those bad streets. Honestly, I owe it all to them – all of their sacrifices and all of their support. I have no idea where I’d be without them.”
With them, Pacheco, 23, finds himself as the World Boxing Organization’s No. 1-ranked super-middleweight contender to champion Canelo Alvarez and headed to his second consecutive DAZN main event as he headlines Saturday’s show from The Cosmopolitan’s Chelsea ballroom in Las Vegas, facing veteran Steven Nelson 20-0 (16 KOs).
Pacheco 22-0 (18 KOs) reflected on the rise that brought him to the moment, including his August 31 sixth-round knockout of a rugged veteran like Nelson, 36. In that DAZN main event outside Los Angeles, Pacheco thrilled the home crowd with a sixth-round attack to the body that ended former middleweight title challenger Maciej Sulecki, 35.
“My dad made all the sacrifices, invested everything he had into my career as an amateur – allowing me to travel in national tournaments, Mexico, Europe. I don’t know how my dad got me there, but he did it and I made sure I took care of business,” Pacheco said.
That debt of gratitude remains powerfully motivational.
“In the back of my head, I always knew I came from a less fortunate family. I came from poverty. Knowing my dad had to sacrifice days and weeks of money to get me to these tournaments, that just made me a winner,” Pacheco said. “I knew I wasn’t going to [travel] all the way over [to the given destination], to have my dad sacrifice and do all he did for me to lose. That was my mentality, and that’s what made me a winner. I went years without losing as an amateur.
“Now, I’m here as a pro, and I’m undefeated as well.”
Pacheco’s promoter, Matchroom, has steered the lanky, 6-foot-4 Pacheco right in front of our eyes on DAZN, especially those of DAZN’s ringside-watching boxing analyst and former 154-pound champion Sergio Mora.
“From his pro debut, I wasn’t too impressed – by his frame, the way he looked,” East Los Angeles’ Mora said of Pacheco. “By the time he got to 8-0, I started seeing what they saw – he was filling out his frame, focusing on his punch placement. I’m a big fan now. And they’re moving him nicely.”
Mora was especially impressed by the way Pacheco shrugged off a cut cheek and lip due to accidental head butts by Marcelo Coceres in late 2023, responding by knocking him out in the ninth round.
Five months later, against Shawn McCalman in Las Vegas, Mora noted that Pacheco “neglected his jab,” and went the distance in a fight that should prove as a valuable learning experience against Nelson, a stablemate of unbeaten four-division champion Terence Crawford who’s trained by Brian “BoMac” McIntyre.
Nelson is a street-hardened foe from Omaha who’s never been knocked down.
“Coming from those rough areas forces you to grow up, to defend yourself and it can bring balance to your mindframe if you have the right team behind you, because you want to hold onto those successes. It builds character,” Mora said of Pacheco.
“He’s a lot more mature than the average 23-year-old, and he picks up things and learns faster than most.”
Pacheco is well aware of this career stage he’s navigating and insists he won’t feel intimidation from Nelson.
“These guys are a little older than me, with more experience than me in life, but in the ring, I’ve been in there [training] with some great fighters – Canelo [Alvarez], [David] Benavidez, Carlos Adames, giving them great work while they give me feedback and tips for me to always remain a student of the game and to keep learning,” said Pacheco, who is cornered by Benavidez’s father, Jose Benavidez Snr.
“I feel like I can make a difference by always trying to get better. I’m getting ready for the toughest Steven Nelson possible. I’m looking forward to a good, tough fight. I believe in myself more than anyone else believes in me. I know with my abilities and hard work that I’m ready to take on this challenge.”
Pacheco said he’s developed to the point that he’s assured some opponents can’t handle his arsenal of skills and techniques.
“My God-given abilities, my physical attributes that come with being 6-4 and 23 years old have me on top of the weight class,” Pacheco said.
“I’m athletic, so I can move and bounce around. I can duck low, get out of the way with angles and do things you don’t see tall fighters do. I’m working on those things every day, every training camp, every fight to establish those long punches, going down to the body. If they try to rush me in, I make them run into something so they’ll think twice about going in there.
“I feel like I’m a complete fighter. I can box, move around the whole ring or stand in the middle and bang out. I can do whatever I have to to win.”
While Alvarez and Crawford appear bound for a mid-September date, Pacheco said he’s hopeful of taking a victory over Nelson to meet the likes of former 168-pound champion Caleb Plant, recent title challenger Edgar Berlanga or WBC No. 1 Christian Mbilli.
“I’m looking at all those guys. I’m close to that world title fight, and if that opportunity comes, we’ll take it,” Pacheco said.
First comes Nelson, and fighting again in front of his family, who’ll attend because the senior Pacheco’s boss at a Southern California staffing agency (a man named Abraham ) routinely gives Federico Pacheco time off for his son’s boxing duties.
“It’s what all fighters dream of. When I sit down and think about it, it’s crazy. I’m here, putting in the work and I feel I’ve earned it,” Pacheco said.
“I’ve sacrificed a lot by training since I was 10 years old and never really taking any breaks, never taking my foot off the gas. That’s what’s gotten me here. So I plan on doing the same, staying focused, keeping that same drive.”
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