Diego Pacheco faces Shawn McCalman live from BleauLive Theater at Fontainebleau Las Vegas on Saturday, April 6. The bout serves as the co-feature on the card, topped by Richardson Hitchins vs Gustavo Lemos. The bout is scheduled for 12 rounds at super middleweight.
Diego Pacheco (20-0, 17 KOs) brings to the ring his WBC USA and WBO International titles. The unbeaten LA contender is confident in his victory against Denver’s unbeaten Shawn McCalman (15-0, 7 KOs) and looks to make a step closer to securing a world title shot.
“I’m one of one,” Diego Pacheco said. “God gave me an amazing talent, amazing reach and height, abilities to move in the ring, abilities that other fighters are lacking, so my time is coming.
“Everything is at stake on Saturday. He’s a tough, undefeated opponent but I feel amazing, I’m getting better and stronger with every fight, smarter, and I’m confident in the work we’ve put into this camp. I’m excited to be back and ready to put on a great show against another undefeated opponent and showcase why I belong here and keep doing what I have been doing which is shining, putting on great performances and showing my dominance in the ring.
“Right now, I am top five in the world so anyone in the top ten that would get me closer to the world title, that’s who I want to fight. There’s a big fight there with Edgar Berlanga, Christian Mbilli is another good fighter in the top ten, there’s Erik Bazinyan. I’d like the chance to share the ring with any of them, they’re all great fighters and that’s the only way to get to the world championships, I know that, my team knows that, and that’s what we’re ready for. I have people around me that know the business more and are experts in grooming world champions, so my job is to prepare as much as I can and hopefully these fights get made and I get to show the world what I am made of.”
“He’s a good fighter, I’ve seen a few of his fights, he has some skills and some power. But I’ve seen thousands of guys like him and I just feel I’m on a way different level than he is and I’ll show that on Saturday.”
“I’ve been a power puncher since I was 12 or 13, I was always dropping guys to the body and to the head. I used to love going to the body and you guys have seen that now. I was putting on these highlight reel KOs since I was a teenager, and now I am 23 it just comes to me, I’m not forcing the knockout; I’m patient, boxing and using my distance and the knockouts just come. I frustrate my opponents by outboxing them, make them jump in or make silly mistakes and I catch onto them and make them pay.”
“Every fight gets more challenging, but I’ve stepped up and shown why I belong here. It’s because I put in the work and god gifted me a talent and I do my part, the rest is up to him, and that’s what you have been seeing, the hard work and the outcome is there.”
“Shout out to Raymond Ford, that was a great fight he put on for the world championship, extremely proud and happy for him and I’m looking forward to doing the same thing. I’m very close to it, I can feel it, that next year or the year after, I will be a world champion.”
In the main event, Richardson Hitchins (17-0, 7 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York takes on Gustavo Daniel Lemos (29-0, 19 KOs) of Argentina. The pair squares off in the 12-round IBF super lightweight title eliminator.
Also on the card a 10-round bout between Skye Nicolson (9-0, 1 KOs) of Australia and Denmark-based former world champion Sarah Mahfoud (14-1, 3 KOs) of Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. The pair battles it out for the vacant WBC featherweight title.