Eddie Hearn rules out Pacheco fighting Berlanga

By Boxing News - 03/11/2023 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Eddie Hearn has ruled out letting unbeaten Diego Pacheco (18-0, 15 KOs) fight his recent Matchroom Boxing signee Edgar Berlanga next following the talented 22-year-old Southern California native’s fourth round steamroll job on Jack Cullen (21-4-1, 9 KOs) on Saturday night in their headliner at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.

Hearn says Pacheco needs more experience before he allows him to fight Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs) in approximately 12 to 18 months.

What Hearn didn’t say is there’s a good possibility that he’ll have cut Berlanga loose, severing ties with him at the end of his three-fight contract after he gets bludgeoned by one of the fighters that he matches him with.

Hearn isn’t going to feed the vulnerable Berlanga against a talent like Pacheco and watch him get wrecked before he even gets a chance to cash him out against Canelo before setting him adrift.

If Berlanga was a massive talent, there’s no way that Top Rank would have allowed him to walk away. They would have kept him and ramped him up to force a world title fight against Canelo.

6’4″ Pacheco made it look easy, dropping the 29-year-old ‘Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver’ Cullen twice in the fourth round before referee Steve Gray waved off the slaughter.

The way Pacheco looked tonight, he’d destroy Berlanga and two of Hearn’s other fighters, Callum Smith and John Ryder. Those guys would be overmatched against a talent like Pacheco, who is the real deal and destined for superstardom.

“Let’s start with the main event. Diego Pacheco was unbelievable. Twenty-two years of age, this guy is an incredible talent, and I feel for Jack Cullen. He can really well-prepared, and he boxed well,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV.

“This kid [Pacheco] is a sharpshooter, sharp puncher, super calm all week, and a future star of boxing.

“I think it’s a huge fight,” said Hearn when asked about his thoughts on matching Pacheco against his recent signee to Matchroom super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga.

“I think Diego has still got some fights to go before that level, even though he believes he can beat Berlanga. I feel that’s a fight that can be built heavily over the next 12 to 18 months. I’d like to see Diego Pacheco headline in LA. He has a huge fanbase there, but he needs to be up against relevant opposition.

“That’s going to be important with his selection. He’s still learning, but he has a great team in team Benavidez, and I think in terms of the super middleweight division, this kid is an unbelievable talent,”  said Hearn.

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