Diego Pacheco and Maciej Sulecki weighed in successfully on Friday for their 12-round headliner tonight at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The event begins tonight at (7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT).
(Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom)
The favorite, Pacheco (21-0, 17 KOs) weighed in at 168 lbs, looking like he’s already close to his fighting weight for tonight. Sulecki (32-2, 12 KOs) came in at 167.4 lbs. It’s a fight that Pacheco, 23, needs to continue moving toward a world title shot.
Hearn’s Vision for Pacheco
Promoter Eddie Hearn already has several names in mind that he would like for Pacheco, 6’4″, to face next to help him prepare for a world title shot. That’ll depend on how good Pacheco looks tonight. Hearn says he wants to match him against Christian Mbilli, Jaime Munguia, or Erik Banzanyin next time out.
In other weights, super featherweight Eduardo Nunez (26-1, 26 KOs) weighed in at 133 lbs, and his opponent, veteran Miguel Marriaga, weighed 131.8.
“It’s going to be a great night of boxing. For Pacheco, it’s been amazing to see his rise from a 17-year-old to #1 in the world, which he is with the WBO,” said Eddie Hearn to K.O. Artist Sports. “It’s the perfect kind of fight to show where he’s really at.
“I think Sulecki is extremely tough. I think he’s a world-class fighter, but we expect Diego to do a good job on him. If he does, he’s going to get ordered to fight the winner of Canelo against Berlanga. He has to because of his position.”
Pacheco needs a step-up opponent who is ranked in the top 10 and can help pressure him for what he’ll be facing when he challenges Canelo. Sulecki isn’t good enough to get Pacheco ready for Canelo.
“I’m not saying he’s ready for that. I’m not calling it out. It’s going to come, and when it comes, you’ve got to be ready because you can’t lose out on that opportunity. That’s why we need a minimum of two or three more fights maybe for that Canelo or whoever it is opportunity.
“After you beat Sulecki, you look at you look at Mbilli, or you look at a Munguia. Once you fight those guys, there’s no in-between. You’re diving in for that Canelo opportunity. Pacheco still makes 168 quite well, which is a great asset. I’m very proud of him. I feel like he’s done a great job.
“He’s really invested his time in the sport. I think teaming up with [trainer] Jose Benavidez was massive for him as well, and I’m interested and excited to see where he’s going to go. We can’t control that. Only he can control that now, but what we can do is make the right decisions and make the right steps at the right time, and I think we’ve done that with his career. I think we’ve done a great job, and it’s over to him now,” said Hearn.
