Undefeated 168-pounder Diego Pacheco will face Stephen Nelson on January 25th in Las Vegas. Pacheco (22-0, 18 KOs) wants to stay busy in 2025, and a fight with undefeated #13 WBO Nelson (20-0, 16 KOs) is one way to do that.
Lance Pugbmire (@pugboking) reports that Pacheco will fight Nelson on January 25th in Las Vegas. This is another step forward in the career of 23-year-old Pacek.
This is a decent fight for Pacek, but not one he’s interested in. He wants to fight for a world title, but it may take His Excellency Turki Alalshik to make it happen.
Pacheco is in position to challenge unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez for his titles. However, he may not get a chance to fight the Mexican star if he chooses to serve him. One thing the 6’4″ Pacheco has going for him is that he hasn’t looked unbeatable in his six-year career, and he’s young at 23 years old.
It won’t be surprising if Canelo picks Pacheco if he looks bad in the Nelson fight. He can’t afford to look good against Nelson because it’s not worth it
Nelson, 36, is long in the tooth and has yet to fight anyone of note in his eight-year pro career. Nelson is held in high regard by hardcore fans, but he has yet to beat anyone to earn the accolades. He has a 36 year old look.
Steven Nelson’s Recent Fights:
– Marcos Vasquez
– Rowdy Legend Montgomery
– James Ballard
– DeAndre Ware
– Cem Kilić
Those five fights took four years off Nelson’s career until 2024, and he’s too old to fight fighters at that level so rarely.
Pacheco is ranked #1 WBO, #3 WBC and #4 IBF. He is in a position to challenge Canelo’s WBO if ordered by the sanctioning body. Nelson is ranked 13th in the WBO. It would be bigger if it was more active and better fighting opposition fans have heard about.
Eddie Hearn promoted Pacheco’s recent victories
– Maciej Sulecki
– Sean McCalman
– Marcelo Coceres
– Manuel Gallegos
– Jack Cullen
Nelson needs to move on from his career as he is too old to still be fighting. He got lucky here with Pacek picking him, but once this fight is over, he could be right back where he started, fighting unknown opposition for the rest of his career.