Super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco (23-0, 18 KOs) had his biggest test to date against Steven Nelson (20-1, 16 KOs) and passed impressively via a unanimous decision. All three judges saw this one: 117-111. Pacheco is now in line for a title eliminator while he waits for one of the titles to become available.
In the first half of the opening round, Pacheco and Nelson were exchanging jabs and battling for foot positioning. In the second half of the round, Pacheco began taking risks and landing solid shots. Nelson was applying a ton of pressure throughout the round. Pacheco began to load up the straight right hand and come chopping down with it. Nelson landed some good right hands and was coming forward, but Pacheco was doing a great job of fighting on the back foot.
In the third round, Pacheco consistently landed his combinations while Nelson threw punches but not as accurately. It was a close round, but Pacheco landed the more effective punches. Nelson had a much better fourth round, as he was making Pacheco miss. In one of the fight sequences, Pacheco landed a huge right hand, which opened up a cut under Nelson’s left eyebrow. Outside of that, it was all Nelson.
Pacheco came back strong in the fifth round as he kept punching on the Nelson cut, making it bleed more and affecting Nelson’s vision. It wasn’t a high-paced round, but Pacheco edged it with accuracy. Pacheco dictated the pace some more in the sixth and in the seventh round, he began to pour it on as Nelson did not have anything big to fire back with. The left and right uppercuts from Pacheco were landing big, with Nelson visibly buzzed after each one landed.
Pacheco kept the same energy throughout rounds eight and nine as Nelson had a hard time dealing with Pacheco’s offense, especially with the swollen left eye. In the tenth round, Pacheco landed a huge right hand on Nelson’s cut, which buckled him. Pacheco went for the stoppage, but Nelson quickly recovered and made it to the end of the round.
The 11th had Pacheco cruising a bit, but in the last round, Nelson landed a huge left hook that rocked Pacheco. Nelson tried to capitalize, but Pacheco showed a ton of heart and resiliency by firing back and weathering the storm. They finished the fight the way they said they would throughout fight week, throwing their best combinations until the sound of the bell.
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