Unbeaten 168-lb contender Diego Pacheco will face Steven Nelson on January 25th in Las Vegas. Pacheco (22-0, 18 KOs) wants to stay busy in 2025, and fighting undefeated #13 WBO Nelson (20-0, 16 KOs) is one way to accomplish that.
Lance Pugbmire [@pugboxing] reports Pacheco will be fighting Nelson next on January 25th in Las Vegas. This is another step forward in the career of the 23-year-old Pacheco.
This is a decent fight for Paccheco, but not the one he’s interested in. He wants to challenge for a world title, but it may require His Excellency Turki Alalshikh to make that happen.
Pacheco is in a position to challenge unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez for his titles. Still, 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 he hasn’t looked unbeatable in his six-year career, and he’s young at 23.
It won’t be surprising if Canelo picks Pacheco if he looks poor in his fight against Nelson. He can’t afford to look good against Nelson because it doesn’t pay off to
Nelson, 36, is long in the tooth and still hasn’t fought anyone of note during his eight-year pro career. Hardcore fans rate Nelson highly, but he hasn’t yet beaten anyone to deserve the praise. He’s an old-looking 36.
Steven Nelson’s recent fights:
– Marcos Vazquez
– Rowdy Legend Montgomery
– James Ballard
– DeAndre Ware
– Cem Kilic
Those five fights consumed four years of Nelson’s career until 2024, and he’s too old to be fighting this infrequently against fighters at that level.
Pacheco is ranked #1 WBO, #3 WBC, and #4 IBF. He’s in a position to challenge Canelo’s WBO if the sanctioning body orders it. Nelson is ranked #13 WBO. He would be higher if he were more active and fighting quality opposition fans have heard of.
The Eddie Hearn-promoted Pacheco’s recent wins
– Maciej Sulecki
– Shawn McCalman
– Marcelo Coceres
– Manuel Gallegos
– Jack Cullen
Nelson needs to start moving his career along because he’s too old to be still fighting scrub. He lucked out here with Pacheco selecting him, but once this fight is over, he could be back where he started to from, fighting unknown opposition for the remainder of his career.