By: Sean Crose
“A win gets me that step closer,” says rising super middleweight talent Diego Pacheco, whose set to square off against Maciej Sulecki this weekend in Los Angeles. “If I can do that, it hopefully gets me a fight with someone that’s in the top ten with me, and then become mandatory for one of the titles and next year, get that world title shot. I don’t feel like I have to show anything in particular. People have already seen that I can knock people out, that I can hurt people to the body, I can drop guys with uppercuts, hurt them with jabs. It’s more just getting the win and looking good, that’s what I train for, there’s no added pressure.”
Indeed, the 23 year old Pacheco is bold enough to mention opponents he’d like to face in the future without even having battled Sulecki yet. “There’s Mbilli, Berlanga, Bazinyan; there’s a lot of good fighters out there that I would face and I’m ready for any of them. It’s hard for those guys to fight me because they think I’m just a young kid who hasn’t done much in the sport. But one fight at a time it’s getting to the point where they can’t deny me anymore and those fights will have to be made, and I have a promoter in Eddie Hearn and Matchroom who gets those fights lined up, so in due time I’ll be mixing it up with them all.
The super middleweight division is currently red hot. It is also dominated by none other than Canelo Alvarez. The red haired star, however, is believed to be leaving the sport of boxing sooner rather than later. That leaves a lot of opportunities for young hungry fighters like Pacheco, a man who is nothing if not confident. “I think in five years from now I’ll be ruling the 168lb division,” he says, “unifying it and ultimately becoming undisputed, that’s my goal. I want to dominate, keep the momentum going, keep knocking guys out and keep entertaining the fans.”
Before he can rule anything, however, Pacheco will have to get past Sulecki this weekend at the Dignity Health Sports Park in a bout that will be broadcast live on the DAZN streaming service. And, even though Pacheco is getting a good amount of attention this week, virtually anything is possible in the sport of boxing.