One of the most intriguing non-title fights in the super middleweight division has now twice failed to make it across the negotiation finish line.
On Monday, it was announced that top super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco would not participate in the WBC purse bid for a fight against the other top contender, Christian Mbilli. This is the second time the fight was ordered by a sanctioning body (the first was in November with the IBF), and when it came down to a purse bid, Pacheco’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing, would remove their fighter from the bid.
It is very unfortunate that Diego Pacheco has pulled out of the process for the ordered fight vs Mbilli . The @WBCBoxing hereby cancels tomorrow purse offer .@MatchroomBoxing @eottm_boxing pic.twitter.com/p2esYZED8R
— Mauricio Sulaiman (@wbcmoro) April 7, 2025
It’s important to include that piece about the promoter, as Matchroom has been the one to pull Pacheco’s name from the purse bid both times, as they had other plans for their fighter. Pacheco (23-0, 18 KOs), 24 and from Los Angeles, CA, is still building his name, and Matchroom appears to want him to develop more of a fanbase before taking on high-risk fights. After pulling out of November’s IBF purse bid, Matchroom had Pacheco fight against Steven Nelson in January to position himself for the top spot with the WBC. But now that he was in the position to fight for an interim title against Mbilli, Matchroom pulled him from that purse bid so that he could fight Trevor McCumby this summer in LA.
Politics As Usual?
Speaking to sources close to the Pacheco team, he wants the fight against Mbilli (28-0, 23 KOs), and contrary to comments on social media, he isn’t ducking anyone. The issue is that DAZN, the streaming platform for Matchroom, isn’t going to send one of their top young fighters in a high-risk fight to another platform and in another country. Eye of the Tiger wanted to host the fight in Quebec City, Canada, which would have been a mega event over there. Eye of the Tiger is also distributed by ESPN+, so there may have been some industry politics that played into this situation. The streaming platform wars have quieted ever since Turki Alalshikh burst onto the scene, but for fighters with less star power like Mbilli and Pacheco, it appears they’re still relevant.
I get that Matchroom wanted Diego Pacheco to face Trevor McCumby as opposed to Christian Mbili. It’s the whole risk vs reward thing that is prevalent in #boxing
But I have a question, is DAZN OK with this? Do they have any say in quality control? Do any of the networks that are…
— Steve Kim – the Thomas Sowell of Boxing (@SteveKim323) April 8, 2025
Obviously, Camille Estephan, who owns Eye of the Tiger Management, is upset about the situation and made comments on social media about it. He’s been wanting to get a big fight for his guy Mbilli, but the options continue to run thin. Estephan has mentioned in weeks past that the sticking point was that Matchroom wanted the fight in LA while he wanted it in Quebec City. Pacheco hasn’t been that big of a draw in LA, and ticket sales struggled when he fought Maciej Sulecki in August at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA.
Making it in Quebec City would have been a bigger event, but I also understand Matchroom’s position to continue to build Pacheco and hope for a title shot before his deal with Matchroom ends in about a year. At that point, the title opportunity would be used by Matchroom as an incentive to resign with them. That’s boxing business 101 and has happened dozens of times in years past.
What Happens Next?
Representatives for Diego Pacheco and Trevor McCumby have reached an agreement for a fight this summer, The Ring has confirmed. The news comes shortly after Pacheco’s team withdrew from his WBC ordered fight vs Christian Mbilli earlier today. pic.twitter.com/Zhzla9JO9h
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) April 7, 2025
As mentioned earlier, Pacheco will be facing McCumby this summer. The 32 year old McCumby last fought in September when Caleb Plant stopped him in the ninth round of their fight. What happens after that fight will be interesting, as Pacheco could go after Jaime Munguia, Caleb Plant, or Edgar Berlanga. If Pacheco truly wants the Mbilli fight later this year, he must approach Eddie Hearn and let him know that he wants that fight after McCumby.
For Mbilli, he can get his promoter to lure Berlanga to Canada now that he is a free agent for a mega fight in Quebec City. There is also Luka Plantic out there, or maybe Jaime Munguia after the rematch against Bruno Surace in May if he comes out victorious. Estephan will now have to get creative as he has Mbilli and Osleys Iglesias at the top of almost all of the sanctioning bodies.
Will We Ever See Pacheco-Mbilli?
There is a good possibility that we will see Pacheco and Mbilli sharing the same ring, but just like many intriguing matchups in the past, this one will marinate a little longer. Marination hasn’t been kind to fight fans in the past with matchups that should have happened but didn’t (Errol Spence Jr. vs. Keith Thurman, Riddick Bowe vs. Lennox Lewis, etc.) as a loss, ego, greed, and/or politics got in the way of those fights happening. Let’s hope we get this fight before any of those things mentioned get in the way.
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