Unbeaten super middleweight Diego Pacheco is only 23 years old but carries himself with the maturity of a much older fighter. He's intelligent, personable, and fully aware of how difficult it is to reach the elite level in boxing — especially when you're a 6-foot-4 power-puncher with an 81-percent knockout ratio.
On August 31, Pacheco takes on former world title challenger Maciej Sulecki at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The 12-round bout, plus undercard action, will be broadcast by DAZN.
WATCH: Diego Pacheco vs. Maciej Sulecki, live on DAZN
Pacheco (21-0, 17 KOs) has been largely dominant since turning professional in December 2018. He's only been beyond six rounds on five occasions, with his skills, physicality, and power-punching forcing opponents to back off in a hurry. However, in his most recent outing, a 10-round unanimous decision win over Shawn McCalman in April, he was tagged a lot more than normal and lost rounds on all three scorecards.
"It was a weird fight," acknowledged Pacheco in a recent interview with The Sporting News. "McCalman's game plan was to make me uncomfortable and not let me work. He did a good job of that, but he didn't come to win. He just didn't want to get knocked out.
"It wasn't a fight that got anyone excited, but these fights are about learning. Once you get to that high level, there's all different types of styles. Good fighters can adapt mid-fight and that's what we have to be ready for."
There's a strong argument that Maciej is the best opponent that Pacheco will have faced to date. At 35 years old, the Polish veteran is a lot closer to the end than the beginning, but he's never been stopped, and his only losses have come on points to world-class operators Daniel Jacobs and Demetrius Andrade.
"I feel like I'm a way better fighter than 'Boo Boo' Andrade and Daniel Jacobs, so he's going to lose to the best fighter he's ever lost to," countered Pacheco immediately.
"Sulecki is a good fighter. He's experienced and he's been in a lot of tough fights and good world championship fights. But he's never been in with a 6-4 boxing, power-puncher like me. I'm excited and I've put in the work. I've been in camp for almost four months and I'm just ready to go."
Even though Canelo Alvarez was forced to relinquish his IBF super middleweight title, the Mexican superstar is still the king at 168 pounds. On September 14, in Las Vegas, the WBA, WBO, WBC and Ring Magazine champion takes on undefeated Puerto Rican power-puncher Edgar Berlanga, a fighter who Pacheco has been proactively pursuing.
"Congrats to Edgar, he hit the jackpot, he got the fight and hopefully he makes the best of it," said Pacheco before bursting his fellow contender's bubble. "In my opinion, it's Canelo by knockout.
"The difference between us is that Berlanga is 30 years old and I'm 23. It's about time he started taking these big fights. I've been trying to fight Berlanga since I was 21. I've been pushing [Matchroom boss] Eddie [Hearn] and telling all these guys after every fight, 'Berlanga next! Berlanga next!' Obviously, they had a plan to get him that fight and that's okay."
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The Los Angeles-born Pacheco is the No. 1 challenger for the WBO super middleweight title, and he's also rated within the top five by the WBC, the IBF and Ring Magazine. Translation: There aren't too many more levels for this hard-hitting boxer-puncher to go through, so a world title bout should be imminent providing he makes Sulecki a memory.
"I think I'm ready for anyone," Pacheco offered with confidence. "Before these fights were made, this one and McCalman, we had some big names on the table. I was on board with every fight. [Manager] Kevin Rooney and all those guys at Matchroom could tell you that. I've never ducked any smoke. Any guy they bring to the table, I'm like, 'Yeah, let's do it! I'm ready!' Then, for one reason or another, these fights fall off and don't get made.
"I feel like a lot of fighters see me as high-risk-low-reward and that's understandable. People can say, I'm 23 years old and I haven't really done much in the sport. But we're gonna keep building, we're gonna keep trying to get the biggest fights to get to that next level and, hopefully, get a world title shot in the near future."
Pacheco is trained by acclaimed coach Jose Benavidez, the father and trainer of former two-time super middleweight champion David Benavidez. If anyone can identify with how difficult it is to secure big fights, it's "The Mexican Monster" who has been unable to lure pound-for-pound star Canelo into the money-spinning showdown that fans have been clamoring for.
"I see how frustrating it is for him and it's unfair," Pacheco said regretfully when asked about his stablemate's fruitless pursuit. "For the last five years, he's been the [interim] 168 WBC champion, so no one deserves the fight more than him. Like he said, it is what it is, you can't sit and cry about it now. Just keep going.
"I think [moving to light heavyweight was the right move]. I think 175, he's going to fill out correctly and not struggle so much to make 168."
Fighters are accustomed to being patient, but big moments are on the horizon for Pacheco if he passes his next test.