Pacheco vs Cullen on March 11 in Liverpool, UK

By Boxing News - 03/01/2023 - Comments

By Jake Tiernan: Diego Pacheco says he wants to fight recent Matchroom signee Edgar Berlanga in what he feels would be a huge contest that would create a lot of fan interest.

The important question is whether Matchroom will allow the 22-year-old Pacheco (17-0, 14 KOs) to fight the undefeated but badly flawed Berlanga.

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It appears to some fans that the ONLY reason Matchroom signed Berlanga was to feed him a couple of easy lower-ranked contenders before cashing him out in a big-money fight, and then washing their hands of the fatally flawed but popular American fighter.

WHAT TIME IS THE PACHECO VS. CULLEN FIGHT?

  • Date: Saturday, March 11
  • Time: 7 p.m. GMT / 2 p.m. ET
  • Main event ringwalks (approx): 10:20 p.m. GMT / 5:20 p.m. ET
  • The card will stream live on DAZN in over 200 countries across the globe
  • The main card is set to get underway at 7 p.m. GMT / 2 p.m. ET with the main event ringwalks scheduled for 10 p.m. GMT / 5 p.m. ET.

Promoter Eddie Hearn says he wants the unbeaten, highly ranked super middleweight contender Berlanga (20-0,  16 KOs) to prove himself by beating world-ranked fighters before setting him up in a mega-fight against Canelo Alvarez.

Given the big money that Matchroom would make on a Canelo-Berlanga bout, would Hearn be willing to let Berlanga fight a talented contender like Pacheco and potentially watch him get cleaned out?

There’s little doubt that Pacheco would destroy the Berlanga that we saw struggle against the last four bottom feeders that his former promoters at Top Rank matched him against.

That’s why they weren’t in a hurry to begin matching Berlanga against quality opposition because they saw how poor he looked in his fights against Roamer Alexis Angulo, Steve Rolls, Marcelo Esteban Coceres, and Demond Nicholson.

#9 WBO Pacheco is headlining this Saturday, March 11, against Jake Cullen (21-3-1, 9 KOs) for the WBO International super middleweight trinket in a 10 round fight on DAZN at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. However, the only reason Pacheco got the main event gig is that Callum Smith pulled out of his headliner fight against Pawel Stepien due to an injury.

Without Smith pulling out, Pacheco would be fighting Cullen on the undercard. Cullen, 29, is coming off an eight round decision over Vladimir Belujsky, and before that, he was destroyed by Kevin Lele Sadjo by a sixth round knockout in December 2021.

For Pacheco to shine against Cullen, he’s going to need to knock him out early the way the 32-year-old Sadjo did.

“Jack Cullen is a good opponent for me at this stage I’m at in my career. I’m just looking for a great performance and a great experience against him,” said Diego Pacheco to Boxing King Media. “It’s rise or fall for both of us.

“Yeah, for sure. Even before he signed with Matchroom, I knew that fight was going to happen down the line because he’s a great fighter, and I’m a great fighter. As long as he keeps going what he’s doing and I keep doing what I’m doing, there’s no reason that fight shouldn’t happen in the future,” said Pacheco about Edgar Berlanga, who Eddie Hearn recently signed.

“He might be the best one yet, and that’s why we picked him. Jack Cullen is the first step. I’m looking forward to getting him out of there on Saturday and moving on to the next one,” continued Pacheco.

“He promised big fight nights, and I’ve been in nothing but big shows,” said Pacheco on what Eddie Hearn promised him after signing him to his Matchroom Boxing stable.

“Now I’m headlining here in the UK [after Callum Smith pulled out of the headliner]. He’s come through with all his promises,  and I couldn’t be more grateful for that.

“Yeah, I’m one of the few.  It was a pretty nice group of us. Some of us are still here, and some of us aren’t,” said Pacheco about a group of Americans that Hearn signed. “I feel like I’m the best of the group, and I’ll show that on Saturday again.”

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PACHECO VS. JACK FIGHT CARD

    ALL TIMES ARE LOCAL

    16:00 DOORS OPEN
    16:30 LIVE ON BEFORE THE BELL

    4 x 3 mins International Middleweight contest
    GEORGE LIDDARD 162.1 lbs v DANIEL PRZEWIESLIK 161.1 lbs
    (Billericay, England) (Ruda Slaska, Poand)

    followed by

    6 x 3 mins International Super-Lightweight contest
    CAMPBELL HATTON 140.5 lbs v MICHAEL GONXHE 136.14 lbs
    (Hyde, England) (Frankfurt, Germany)

    followed by

    6 x 3 mins Middleweight contest
    PADDY LACEY 162.14 lbs v JAMES MCCARTHY 160.15 lbs
    (Liverpool, England) (Liverpool, England)

    followed by

    8 x 3 mins Super-Featherweight contest
    AQIB FIAZ 134.7 lbs v DEAN DODGE 132.15 lbs
    (Oldham, England) (Yeovil, England)

    followed by

    19:00 LIVE ON DAZN

    10 x 2 mins vacant Commonwealth Lightweight Title
    RHIANNON DIXON 134.12 lbs v VICKY WILKINSON 132.1 lbs
    (Warrington, England) (Wombourne, England)

    followed by

    10 x 3 mins International Super-Bantamweight contest
    PETER MCGRAIL 123.8 lbs v NICOLAS NAHUEL BOTELLI 123.12 lbs
    (Liverpool, England) (Salta, Argentina)

    followed by

    8 x 3 mins International Heavyweight contest
    JOHNNY FISHER 240.12 lbs v ALFONSO DAMIANI 233.13 lbs
    (Romford, England) (Subiaco, Italy)

    followed by

    10 x 3 mins International Super-Lightweight contest
    ROBBIE DAVIES JR 139.12 lbs v DARRAGH FOLEY 139.6 lbs
    (Liverpool, England) (Bondi, Australia)

    followed by

    10 x 3 mins WBO International Super-Middleweight Title
    DIEOGO PACHECO 166.10 lbs v JACK CULLEN 167.8 lbs
    (Los Angeles, USA) (Little Lever, England)