Diego Pacheco faces veteran Maciej Sulecki in a 12-round super middleweight fight in the main event this Saturday, August 31st, live on DAZN at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles. The event will be shown starting at 7:30 pm ET.
Pacheco’s Fast Track to a Title Shot
Matchroom is fast-tracking the 23-year-old Pacheco (21-0, 17 KO KOs), ramping him up for a world title shot. It makes sense because if he can get a title shot against unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez before he retires in a few years, he can make a lot of money.
The lanky 6’4″ Pacheco will take on 35-year-old Sulecki (32-2, 12 KOs). The Polish fighter Sulecki has won his last four fights since losing to former Matchroom fighter Demetrius Andrade by a 12-round unanimous decision in June 2019. Sulecki started slow in that fight but gave Andrade a lot of problems down the stretch.
Sulecki’s other loss was a 12-round unanimous decision to Daniel Jacobs in April 2018. In that fight, he gave the New Yorker huge problems until gassing out late in a highly competitive contest.
Undercard Action
On the undercard of Saturday’s Pacheco-Sulecki fight, super featherweight Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Nunez battles Miguel Marriaga in a 10-round fight.
“Diego [Pacheco], he’s so young. He’s got six years ahead of him in the sport, and it’s a good test against [Maciej] Sulecki, a really good test. It’s one that if you come through that with flying colors, you’re ready for the Munguias. You’re ready for the Mbillis, all of those guys at 168 that you’re ready,” said Eddie Hearn to the Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel about his fighter, super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco’s fight against Maciej Sulecki this Saturday, August 31st, on DAZN.
Pacheco has looked good in recent fights, defeating Shawn McCalman, Marcelo Coceres, and Manuel Coceres. However, Pacheco looks vulnerable at times, especially early in fights, and it’ll be interesting to see how he deals with the stiff shots from Sulecki. If Pacheco can’t score a knockout in this fight, it could be a tough one for him.
“I hope all those names that I mentioned are up for the challenge because don’t wait around for Canelo Alvarez,” said Hearn. “Munguia, you already boxed him. Mbilli, you’re not going to get your shot. Let’s make these great fights at 168.”
Canelo may look Pacheco’s way soon if he runs out of interesting opponents for him to fight. He’s talked about wanting to fight a rematch with Dmitry Bivol, but that might be just talk from Canelo.
Hearn’s High Hopes for Pacheco
“Edgar has got a life-changing opportunity where he’s making an absolute fortune, and he’s getting a shot against arguably the biggest name in boxing,” said Hearn about Berlanga. “So, right now, I don’t think Edgar Berlanga is thinking about Diego Pacheco or Jaime Munguia, or Christian Mbilli. He’s thinking about Canelo Alvarez.”
If Berlanga loses his fight with Canelo on September 14th, he’ll want to rebuild, and Pacheco would be seen as too risky for that purpose. Hearn promotes Berlanga, and we’ll want to keep them apart to slowly bring the New Yorker back.
“If he wins, he’s a superstar in the sport,” Hearn said about Berlanga. “If he loses, he still has a massive profile, and he’ll want to be in big fights. If that big fight is Diego Pacheco, I think he’s up for that. When you’re building a fighter like Diego Pacheco, the easy way not to
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