By Sean Nam
April 3, 2023
Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
Diego Pacheco believes his promoter has an appealing in-house match-up on his hands. Pachecho, the highly regarded 22-year-old super middleweight prospect from Los Angeles, boosted his appeal last month with a dominant stoppage over veteran Jack Cullen at Echo Arena in Liverpool.
After the fight, Pacheco was asked about a potential fight with fellow 168-pounder Edgar Berlanga, who, like Pacheco, is signed to Matchroom Boxing, the British promotional company headed by Eddie Hearn. Pacheco offered an enthusiastic endorsement of that potential match-up. “Yeah, I think in a few [fights the Berlanga fight will happen],” Pacheco told SecondsOut.com. “He’s a great fighter, I’m a great fighter. As long as everyone wants to see that fight and everyone asks for that fight, I don’t see why that shouldn’t happen.
“He’s with Matchroom now. So there’s no reason why that shouldn’t happen. We’re both some of the best young fighters. Let’s give the fight fans an amazing fight.”
Berlanga, 25, parted ways with his longtime promoter Top Rank earlier this year and subsequently signed with Hearn after fielding various offers, including ones from Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy and Al Haymon of Premier Boxing Champions.
One reason why Berlanga signed with Hearn appears to be because of a potential fight with Canelo Alvarez, the current undisputed champion at 168. But in order to earn that opportunity, Hearn has said Berlanga would need to rack up a few wins over top opposition. The New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent has failed to look impressive in his last few fights after stopping his first 16 opponents inside the first round. Pacheco signed with Matchroom straight out of the amateurs, when he was only 17. With the win over Cullen, the youngster believes the appellation “prospect” no longer applies to him. “I needed a performance like this to convince people that I wasn’t a prospect anymore and that I can compete with the best,” Pacheco said. “Hopefully everyone else sees it as well. …I just turned 22. I feel like a lot of people call me a prospect because I’m so young but, you know, with this performance, like Eddie said, I feel like I’m a contender now. I could compete with anyone. I’m ready and excited for the future.”
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