Diego Pacheco walked away with the win on January 25 when he faced Steven Nelson in the main event at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The Los Angeles native came out on top defeating his opponent from Omaha, Nebraska by unanimous decision. After 12 rounds at super middleweight, all three judges scored the fight 117-111.
With the victory, Pacheco improved his unbeaten record to 23-0, with 18 KOs. The Renton, WA-based 23-year-old retained his WBC USA and WBO International belts.
Nelson, who was cut above his left eye but was predominantly on the front foot and applied pressure in the final round, dropped to 20-1, with 16 KOs. The 36-year-old suffered his first career defeat.
Post-fight, Diego Pacheco, who hopes to earn a world title shot in 2025, said that next he wanted to face “any of those guys in the top 5.”
In the co-main event, Andy Cruz (5-0, 2 KOs) of Cuba retained his IBF International lightweight title by unanimous decision against Omar Salcido Gamez (20-2, 14 KOs) of Mexico. After 10 rounds, the scores were 99-91, 98-92, and 98-92.
Among other Pacheco vs Nelson results, Ernesto Mercado (17-0, 16 KOs) of Upland, California stopped Puerto Rico’s former two-division world champion Jose Pedraza (29-7-1, 14 KOs) at welterweight. The official time was 2:08 into the fourth round.
In the main card opener, Leonardo Rubalcava (9-0-1, 3 KOs) of Mexico and Israel Mercado (11-1-2, 7 KOs) of Pomona, California fought to a majority draw. After eight rounds at super lightweight, the scores were 75-75, 75-75, and 76-74 for Mercado. Mercado was down in the first round, and got a point deducted in the seventh round for a low blow.
Atop the Pacheco vs Nelson prelims, Woodland, California-based Nishant Dev (1-0, 1 KOs) of India made his successful pro boxing debut by knockout against Alton Wiggins (1-1-1) of Berkeley, California. The middleweight bout was stopped at 2:48 into the first round.
Harley Mederos (8-0, 7 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York KO’d Arturo de Isla (5-3-1, 4 KOs) of Mexico at lightweight. The official time was 1:27 into the third round.
The event opener ended in favor of Zaquin Moses (2-0, 1 KO) of Newark, New Jersey, who took the win over Mexico’s Mario Garcia (3-1, 3 KOs). The super featherweight matchup was stopped after the first round due to injury suffered by the latter.