Super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco notched another good win on his record as he defeated Steven Nelson in a 12-round thriller that was much closer than the judges’ scorecards interpreted. The two Americans headlined a Matchroom card at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, January 25.
Diego Pacheco Vs. Steven Nelson
23-year old Diego Pacheco (23-0, 18 KO’s) proved to be a step ahead of the older and weathered 36-year old Steven Nelson (20-1, 16 KO’s) as the two engaged in a super middleweight (168 lbs) contest that put both their undefeated records at stake. Both the WBC USA and WBO International belts, held by Pacheco, were further on the line.
Nelson put up a solid performance but it was not enough against Pacheco who was simply the more effective fighter due to his ability to boxing at range. Standing at a height of 6’4 as opposed to Nelson’s 5’10, Pacheco further boasted a reach of 79 inches compared to 75½ inches. Both of these factors proved to make a big difference as Pacheco coursed to a unanimous decision (UD) win.
Overall, Steven Nelson was the more active fighter but seemed to lack heavily in efficiency, landing just 13.8% of a total of 560 punches [according to CompuBox] thrown while Diego Pacheco landed 28.4% of punches out of 464 thrown.
Most of Nelson’s ineffectiveness was a direct result of Pacheco’s ability to box, stay at range and counter well while pressuring Nelson at the right moment. In comparison, while Nelson certainly proved to have resilience, a high work rate and grit, his inability to cut off the ring and to utilize his offensive and defensive skills to make an impact resulted in him losing most of the rounds.
After 12 rounds, Pacheco was declared the winner by UD through the judges’ scorecards which all contained identical scores of 117-111. Pacheco further retained his WBC USA and WBO International titles. While the scores were wide, they mostly reflected Nelson’s inability to box properly, proving less capable of setting up his punches and indicating his overall ineffectiveness offensively.
Undercard results:
- The most noteworthy match on Matchroom’s card was a bout between Olympic gold medalist and lightweight (135 lbs) Cuban contender Andy Cruz (5-0, 2 KO’s) as he competed against Mexican contender Omar Salcido Gamez (20-2, 14 KO’s) in a defense of his IBF International title. The two competed for 10 rounds.
Salcido, best known for defeating Chris Colbert (17-3, 6 KO’s) last year, proved to be robust customer while Cruz appeared to dominate most rounds easily by outboxing the Mexican. Despite Salcido having never been dropped, stopped or knocked out, Cruz seemed to be close to landing a stoppage win in the 10th round where he had Salcido severely hurt. Ultimately, it was a one-sided contest that Cruz easily won by unanimous decision through scorecards of 99-91 and 98-92 twice. - American super lightweight (140 lbs) talent Ernesto “Tito” Mercado (17-0, 16 KO’s) was allowed to showcase his skill against Puerto Rican veteran Jose Pedraza (29-7-1, 14 KO’s) in a 10-round bout held at 140-pounds. Mercado stormed to a 4th round technical knockout (TKO) win but notably fought a severely weathered Pedraza who hasn’t won a single boxing match since 2021.
