Diego Pacheco Makes Statement With Stoppage Of Sulecki – But Is He Ready For Canelo?
Super-middleweight contender Diego Pacheco delivered a statement victory on Saturday night by becoming the first fighter to stop the durable Maciej Sulecki inside the distance.
Pacheco (22-0-0 18 KO) retained his WBC USA and WBO international titles in front of a home crowd in Carson, California by knocking out Sulecki (32-3-0 12 KO) with a vicious body shot in the sixth round.
It was an impressive and clinical display from the 23-year-old, who took control following two cautious rounds to start the fight, and his mounting pressure eventually told.
Pacheco set the foundations for his win at the end of the fifth round with an attacking flurry that had Sulecki in serious trouble. He maintained his momentum at the start of the sixth, and after narrowly missing with a punch to the head, spotted his opening and landed a flush liver shot to send his opponent crumpling to the canvas.
Sulecki represented Pacheco’s toughest challenge so far in his prodigious career. The Polish fighter’s only previous defeats came against Daniel Jacobs, who went on to be a middleweight world champion, and to Demetrius Andrade in his only world title fight. Sulecki had never been stopped – until he came up against Pacheco.
The victory preserves Pacheco’s status as the WBO’s top-ranked contender, and his promoter Eddie Hearn revealed in the post-fight press conference that he received a “beautiful email” from the sanctioning body to say the Californian has been mandated to fight for its world title.
Pacheco On Track To Fight Canelo
The WBO’s will be one of three titles on the line on September 14 when unified champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez defends his belts against Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas. If the fight goes the way it’s expected to, that will put Pacheco in the direct firing line of the Mexican great.
For all of Pacheco’s undoubted talent and exciting potential, a fight with Canelo would come too soon if it were to be arranged at the next opportunity, with Alvarez fighting every May and September.
The American is yet to be tested at the top level and in a stacked super-middleweight division, there are several fighters who can be, what Hearn described, a “bridge” between where Pacheco is now and Canelo.
Among the names Hearn mentioned as possible next opponents include fellow top-ranked contender Christian Mbilli, Berlanga (should he lose to Canelo), former world champion Caleb Plant, and Erik Bazinyan. But there is one fight more than any other that Hearn wants to make next for Pacheco.
“The fight I would love to make is Diego Pacheco against Jaime Munguia,” Hearn said in the ring. “I think that is a brilliant, brilliant fight. I believe we win that fight all day long.”
Munguia (43-1-0 34 KO) returns to the ring against Bazinyan on September 20 in his first fight since losing to Canelo in May, when he gave a good account of himself but was a level below the champion. The winner of this bout would be the ideal opponent for Pacheco.
Munguia The Ideal Next Opponent
Hearn explained that Pacheco’s mandatory challenge is likely to come in one year’s time, which gives them two more fights to get as ready as possible for a likely showdown with Canelo next September. That preparedness not only applies to being fight-ready but gives Pacheco another 12 months to grow increasingly accustomed to his status as a world-level fighter.
“He’s in such a good place right now, with his mind, his life, his team, that I felt that was a performance that was coming,” Hearn said in the press conference. “There’s a new level of maturity in the fact that he’s gaining age and experiences and fatherhood as well.
“That’s important because when he mixes it with the top level you’ve got to be mature enough physically, mentally, emotionally to deal with those nights.
“When you look at the division, show me another fighter his age as exciting as this. We’ve got some exciting fighters in the division – Berlanga, Munguia, Mbilli – but no one like Pacheco. On one hand, we don’t want to rush him and get it wrong. But then you see performances like that and you know the call is coming [for a world title fight] in 2025.”
Pacheco himself is also realistic about needing to be ready to fight Canelo but has issued a warning to the rest ofthe top contenders that he’s coming to take over.
“Hopefully we get one of those names because that’s all that’s missing now,” he said. “People know I can fight, they know I got the skills, that I’ve got the support behind me. I just need that name on my resume to cement myself in the boxing world as a great fighter.”
