Eddie Hearn wants Diego Pacheco to look so good in victory over Darius Fulghum on Saturday night that he can climb on the turnbuckle in Carson, California, and call out Canelo Álvarez and Jaime Munguia.
Super middleweight contender Pacheco (26-0, 19 KOs) will need to raise his game to look impressive enough against the big-punching Fulghum for Canelo, Munguia, and fans to take him seriously.
In recent fights, Pacheco, 25, hasn’t looked great, struggling to beat Kevin Lee Sadjo and Steven Nelson.
“Forget all this by any means necessary. You want to go and get those big fights. You want to shout out those big names. You come in here, you look sensational in front of the whole country,” said Hearn at the weigh-in on Friday about what he wants from Pacheco.
“You got to be doing a job on Darius Fulghum tomorrow night and standing on that turnbuckle calling out Canelo Alvarez, calling out Jaime Munguia. And you got to get people believing in you.”
The problem is that even when the 6’4″ Pacheco is dominating, he still doesn’t look overly impressive. His game is built on jabbing, loading up on hooks, and holding. He looks awkward and gangly. Expecting him to shine against Fulghum is asking a lot, and could be dangerous because he’s going up against a big puncher.
Sadjo had Pacheco hurt several times in their fight last December. He dropped Pacheco in the eighth, forcing him into full safety-first mode for the rest of the 12-round contest. From the eighth round on, Pacheco fought to survive, prompting fans to boo.
Fulghum told Pacheco that he made a mistake by selecting him as his opponent for this fight. He says he plans on knocking him out. “Pressure bust pipes,” said Fulghum.
If Fulghum can get in close and battle him on the inside, Hearn’s hope for an impressive showing from Pacheco could go up in smoke. Fulghum could spoil everything, though there’s little chance he’ll get a fight against Canelo or Munguia next. Canelo has already mentioned Terence Crawford and Willy Hutchinson as the two on his hit list. For Pacheco, he may have to look elsewhere, toward Jacob Bank or Wilkens Mathieu.
