Diego Pacheco (21-0, 17 KOs) fights Maciej Sulecki (32-2, 12 KOs) in a 12-round super middleweight contest this Saturday, August 31, in a Matchroom-promoted event at the Dignity Health Sports Park in California. The event will be shown live on DAZN.
This fight is a lateral move for the 23-year-old Pacheco from his previous fight against Shawn McCalman last April. Promoter Eddie Hearn doesn’t want to rush the tall 6’4″ stork-like Pacheco against the dangerous fighters at 168.
Test Pacheco’s potential
Hearn aims to start Pacheco up against fighters like Edgar Berlanga, Jaime Munguia and Christian Mbilli before getting him a title shot against unified 168-lb champion Canelo Alvarez. But of course, if Canelo picks Pacheco next, Hearn won’t say no to that.
It will be good to see how well Pacheco does against the undefeated Cuban talent Osley Iglesias (12-0, 11 KOs). The Eye of The Tiger promoted Osleys is ranked #5 WBC, and will be an excellent test to see if Pacheco is ready to go to the next level. If Pacheco can’t beat the 26-year-old knockout artist Osleys, he won’t fare well against Canelo if he gets that shot.
Sulecki, 35, would have been a risky fight for Pacheco had it happened five to seven years ago when the Polish fighter was younger, but his career has slowed since 2020. He has only fought four times against lesser opposition.
In Sulecki’s last fight, he won a ten-round unanimous decision against 38-year-old Rowdy Legend Montgomery (11-6-1, 8 KOs). It’s not a good sign that Sulecki couldn’t knock out a fighter at this level, but he was getting older, and the inactivity didn’t help.
Sulecki’s two losses came against former Hearn promoter Demetrius Andrade in 2019 and Daniel Jacobs in 2018. Both fights were highly competitive. The version of Sulecki fighting Jacobs would be a real problem for Pacheco.
Undercard
Artutro Popoca vs. Jesus Arechiga Valdez
Cheavon Clarke vs. Efetobor Apochi; Cruiser weight
Adelaida Ruiz vs. Ginny Fuchs
Eduardo Nunez vs. Miguel Marriaga
Criztec Bazaldua vs Kyle Erwin
Fabian Rojo vs. Alejandro Frias Rodriguez
Alexander Gueche vs. David Vargas Zamora
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