Undefeated 168 lb. 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 do that.
Lance Pugbmire (@pugboxing) reports that Pacheco will fight Nelson next January 25th in Las Vegas. This is another step forward in Pacheco’s 23-year-old career.
This is a decent fight for Pacheco, but not one he’s interested in. He wants to challenge for a world title, but he may need His Excellency Turki Alalshikh to do that.
Pacheco is in a position to challenge unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez for his titles. However, he may not have the opportunity to fight the Mexican star if he chooses to serve. One thing the 6’4″ Pacheco has going for him is that he hasn’t looked unbeaten 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 poor in his fight against Nelson. He can’t afford to look good against Nelson because he’s not getting paid
Nelson, 36, is long in the tooth and has yet to fight anyone of note during his eight-year pro career. Hardcore fans rate Nelson highly, but he has yet to beat anyone to deserve the accolades. He is a 36 year old.
Steven Nelson’s last 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 is too old to fight so rarely against fighters at that level.
Pacheco is ranked #1 WBO, #3 WBC, and #4 IBF. He is in a position to challenge Canelo’s WBO if the sanctioning body orders it. Nelson is ranked #13 WBO. It would be higher if he was more active and fighting quality that the fans of the opposition have heard about.
Eddie Hearn promoted Pacheco’s recent victories
– Maciej Sulecki
– Shawn McCalman
– Marcelo Coceres
– Manuel Gallegos
– Jack Cullen
Nelson needs to start his career because he is too old to still be fighting with the scrub. He is lucky here with Pacheco selecting him, but once this fight is over, he could be back where he started, fighting unknown opposition for the rest of his career.
