Super Middleweight Showdown
Last night’s Matchroom/DAZN Main Event between undefeated Super Middleweight Contender Diego Pacheco (23-0, 18 Kos) and undefeated Steven Nelson (20-1, 16 Kos) was a very interesting bout that tested the young contender at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
The undefeated challenger Nelson who was much older than Pacheco at 36, came out with a very good “game plan” right off the bell that had Pacheco hesitant in the first few rounds. The pressure that Nelson was applying was troubling Pacheco forcing him to be in retreat mode unable to let his hands go in their usual fashion.
That being said things changed in the fourth round when Pacheco finally caught Nelson with a strong right hand that cut him on the outside of his left eye. It was the type of cut that impaired Nelson’s vision due to the constant blood flowing into his eye. It was a game changer from this point on where Pacheco now saw a wounded warrior ready to be taken out.
Pacheco reclaimed control of the bout from that point on and started going to work in his usual fashion by landing hard right hands and uppercuts at will round by round. I gotta tip my “B” hat to Nelson who stood his ground while being impaired with that eye. Most combatants would have folded a long time ago but Nelson did his best to stay in the fight and push the young warrior to show him what’s up.
Nelson looked alive in the championship rounds and gave it his best shot by bringing that pressure from the early rounds and letting his hands go clearly showing us that if he would have kept that same energy and consistency throughout the entire fight things could have been different.
After 12 rounds of action all three Judges scored it 117-111 for Diego Pacheco.
This was a very good learning experience type fight for Pacheco where he had himself a tough competitor that forced him to dig deep to secure the win.
Well done, Pacheco, now who’s next?
Blaze