Diego Pacheco’s increasing talent is gathering increased exposure as he will headline the Sept. 7 main event in a super middleweight bout at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, BoxingScene has learned.
The Los Angeles-born Pacheco (21-0, 17 KOs) is currently connected to negotiations with France’s Kevin Lele Sadjo (23-0, 20 KOs) for the DAZN-streamed bout.
Pacheco, 23, elevated to No. 1 contender in the World Boxing Organization ratings by virtue of his April 16 unanimous decision over Shawn McCalman in Las Vegas.
The Matchroom-promoted Pacheco produced five consecutive knockouts or stoppages before that bout, and his team is “super-excited” about this bump in exposure as he nears the title shot he longs for.
At super middleweight, there’s quite a logjam behind undisputed champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, including first-in-line IBF mandatory William Scull, who is expected to request an exception that would allow Alvarez to pursue a bout against his WBA mandatory, Edgar Berlanga.
Pacheco is trained by Jose Benavidez Sr., the father of Alvarez’s most high-profile mandatory, unbeaten former super middleweight titleholder David Benavidez.
“With Diego, we’re still out to prove ourselves, so in one or two more fights, we’ll be ready [to fight for the belt],” Benavidez Sr. said. “I want him to fight guys like [Jaime] Munguia and Berlanga …”
Pacheco was previously in talks with Canada’s Erik Bazinyan (32-0-1, 23 KOs), but the 29-year-old fought to a May 2 draw against Shakeel Phinn, and his team’s interest in fighting Pacheco has since cooled.
Sadjo, 34, has fought his past six bouts in France. He stands 5-foot-8, giving up eight inches to the 6-foot-4 Pacheco, who also possesses an 11-inch reach advantage.
Dignity Health Sports Park, also known as the “War Grounds,” has staged a slew of epic bouts, including Timothy Bradley Jr.-Ruslan Provodnikov, Lucas Matthysse-John Molina, Brandon Rios-Mike Alvarado, Shane Mosley-Ricardo Mayorga and two of the Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez classics.
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