Pacheco Prepares For Sulecki, Eyes Future Challenges

Diego Pacheco (21-0, 17 KOs) fights this Saturday, August 31st, in a 12-round super middleweight contest against Maciej Sulecki (32-2, 12 KOs) 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 bout against Shawn McCalman last April. Promoter Eddie Hearn doesn’t want to rush the tall 6’4″ stork-like Pacheco too fast against the dangerous fighters at 168.

Testing Pacheco’s Potential

Hearn intends to start stepping 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 obviously, if Canelo selects Pacheco next, Hearn won’t say no to that.

It would be good to see how well Pacheco performs against the unbeaten Cuban talent Osleys Iglesias (12-0, 11 KOs). The Eye of The Tiger-promoted Osleys is ranked #5 WBC, and would 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 do well against Canelo if he gets that shot.

Sulecki, 35, would have been a risky fight for Pacheco if it had happened five to seven years ago when the Polish fighter was younger, but his career has slowed since 2020. He’s fought only 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’s gotten older, and the inactivity hasn’t helped.

Sulecki’s two defeats have come against former Hearn-promoted Demetrius Andrade in 2019 and Daniel Jacobs in 2018. Both fights were highly competitive. The version of Sulecki that fought Jacobs would be a real problem for Pacheco.

Undercard

Artutro Popoca vs. Jesus Arechiga Valdez
Cheavon Clarke vs. Efetobor Apochi; Cruiserweight
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