Eddie Hearn reveals when Pacheco will return.
If you were to describe Diego Pacheco to a potential opponent of his without using his name, you’d be likely to get a response along the lines of, “Uh…yeah, is there anyone else?”
Because nobody wants to fight a 6’4″ super-middleweight with a 79-inch reach.
Pacheco is one of a few fighters in recent times who seem to be far too tall and far too lengthy for the weight class they reside in.
Three fighters to hold titles at featherweight in the last few years are the 5’9″ Brandon Figueroa, the 5’10” Rey Vargas, and the 6’1″ Rafael Espinoza.
The 6’5½” Sebastian Fundora currently reigns at super-welterweight, and David Morrell (6’1″), David Benavidez (6’2″), and Gilberto Ramírez (6’2½”) all stomped around at super-middleweight.
Even now in the 168-pound class, there is the aforementioned Pacheco, the 5’10” Armando Resendiz, the 6’2½” Osleys Iglesias, and the 6’3″ Hamzah Sheeraz.
Sheeraz and Pacheco were recently ordered to fight for their division’s vacant WBO title, yet Pacheco pulled out of negotiations. As a result, the boxing world missed out on something fascinating.
Pacheco has been out since a competitive December victory over Kevin Lele Sadjo, but in an interview with iFL TV, promoter Eddie Hearn has now revealed when he will be returning.
In a series of one-word answers, Hearn revealed that Pacheco would be back out in July and that he’d be headlining a card in Los Angeles.
While Hearn said he wasn’t sure of an opponent, he did state, “I think with Diego, we didn’t get ahead of ourselves, but I thought, with all of the preparation that he’d done, with all of the education that he’s done, ‘Now’s the time to fight Sheeraz for the world title.’
“I think because of the changes in camp, ’cause he’s so young, I think he just felt like, ‘I’m gonna be much better than this, where I am right now.’ And I thought it was quite a mature decision, ’cause I was all over the Sheeraz fight. I thought, ‘That’s brilliant. You know, we’ve given you all the fights. Now let’s go.’
“But he was like, ‘Look, I just don’t think I’m firin’ on all cylinders at the moment. I think I’m gonna be better in a fight or a couple of fights.'”
The changes to which Hearn refers are Pacheco’s appointment of James ‘Buddy’ McGirt as his new trainer, which follows a series of too-close-for-comfort wins for Pacheco.
Perhaps this is the right choice for Pacheco, and perhaps we may see the best version of him going up against Sheeraz in the near future.
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