Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn told the media at the post-fight presser that Pacheco made a sensible decision choosing to wait for a title match, being that he had a new training team and Pacheco preferred to take the fight until he was ready at 100 percent.
Saturday night, a much-improved Pacheco boxed a much more technically sound fight by controlling the distance, utilizing his jab, and being defensively disciplined. Against Sadjo, Pacheco took a lot of punishment and also suffered the first knockdown of his professional career, but against Immanuwel Aleem (22-5-3, 14 KOs), he showed another level.
He landed 44.2 percent of his total punches, keeping Aleem at range with his jab. Immanuwel struggled to get on the inside and was offensively ineffective, finding minimal success connecting on only 24.1 percent of his total punches (Compubox).
WBC interim world super middleweight champion Lester Martinez (20-0-1, 16 KOs) fought Aleem to a close and hard-fought 12-round unanimous decision. Many believed he would be a much more challenging opponent for Diego, but he proved otherwise.
After the fight, Pacheco expressed to the media at the post-fight presser his desire to continue his progression and fight the best super middleweights in the world. He’d like fights against Jaime Munguia, Christian Mbilli, Hamzah Sheeraz, and Canelo Alvarez.
It’s only his first fight under Buddy, and his potential is limitless. He demonstrated Saturday night at the War Grounds he has the potential to challenge for a world title. Hearn said he hopes to have Pacheco fight at this venue again this year, around October or November, but will keep their options open if a big fight comes along.
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