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Add FightsATW on GoogleSaturday night at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, was set up for top super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco (26-1, 19 KOs) to look impressive in front of his home crowd and enter 2027 with a title shot in hand. Well, his opponent, Darius Fulghum (16-1-1, 13 KOs), had something to say about that and put on a career performance that has now catapulted him to a title shot if Pacheco decides to pass on a rematch. Saturday’s fight was a perfect example of why people often say, “It’s why they fight the fights.”
Throughout fight week, you couldn’t find anyone not on Fulghum’s team who would definitively say he would win. On Friday, according to BetUS, the oddsmakers had Pacheco as a 9-1 favorite to win. Was it that everyone felt Pacheco was a much better fighter, or were those odds driven by Fulghum’s past performances?
It was in June 2024 that I first saw Fulghum fight at the Fantasy Springs Casino & Resort in Indio, California. There was a lot of buzz around him, and Golden Boy felt they had something with him but needed to step up his competition to really see what they had. He fought Vaughn Alexander, and although he won by unanimous decision, after about the fourth round the arena nearly emptied out. They were booing and not entertained by Fulghum’s style. Although the crowd in Indio can be tough because they are the hardest of hardcore fans, Fulghum just wasn’t impressive.
After two straight stoppage wins, he faced Bektemir Melikuziev and lost by unanimous decision. Although he lost, he gained the world-class experience he was missing and went back to the drawing board. He would earn a majority draw six months later and then earn a third-round knockout in May. Seeing all that, there was serious doubt he could be competitive against Pacheco.
But something stood out to me when the fight against Pacheco was announced. He told FightsATW in an exclusive interview that “This is my rebirth, this is my second chance.” That sounded like a fighter who knew why he was picked as an opponent but also knew that the best version of himself still hadn’t been displayed.
When the fight began, the first thing that stood out was the size difference. Fulghum looked like a middleweight, while Pacheco looked like a light heavyweight. Even so, Fulghum began on the front foot and pushed back the bigger man. This discouraged Pacheco right away, and Fulghum found a home for his left jab, which bothered Pacheco. A few rounds later, a cut opened up under Pacheco’s eye, which clearly bothered him.
Pacheco had moments in the fight, but Fulghum used his jab and straight right hand to keep Pacheco on the back foot, where he was less effective. When Pacheco tried to put on front-foot pressure, Fulghum smartly held him and killed any momentum Pacheco had. At times, it wasn’t clean, but Fulghum made Pacheco uncomfortable and confused him, which allowed Fulghum to continue to land at will. Although it felt like Fulghum had the fight going into the championship rounds, it was too nip-and-tuck, so he pressed the gas to close out the fight while Pacheco looked as if his stamina was on empty.
In the end, Fulghum earned the unanimous decision, but this was a message for fighters who feel like the world is against them: keep giving it your all because if you believe in yourself, anything can happen. After the fight, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn said there was a rematch clause, and if Pacheco exercises it, you can bet people won’t underestimate Fulghum again. Saturday’s main event was another great fight, adding to the long history of fights that have taken place at the “War Grounds.”
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