By Vince D’Writer: In the July 7th Matchroom headliner that took place at the Cintermex in Monterrey, Mexico, super-middleweight contender Diego Pacheco looked extremely impressive as he posted a fourth round TKO victory over Manuel Gallegos (19-2-1, 16 KOs).
The 22-year-old Pacheco is a rising star who continues to show improvement each time he competes inside the squared circle. Once again, Pacheco systematically broke his opponent down in a short period of time, as he gave the fans another reason to believe that he is the future of the super-middleweight division.
In the opening round of the fight, Manuel Gallegos came out in attack mode as he was constantly applying pressure. Pacheco showed a great deal of poise by using movement and working off the jab.
Pacheco continued to be patient and smart as he started finding more openings in round 2. He landed some solid shots to the head of his opponent, but Gallegos was able to absorb the punishment and carry on with his strategy of pressing forward.
Gallegos was trying to force Pacheco against the ropes in round 3, but Pacheco was able to use angles to avoid that particular situation.
However, later in the round, Gallegos had to take a few punches, but he was able to get inside and land some solid shots of his own.
After three rounds of action, Gallegos seemed to be taking the shots to the head well, so in the fourth round, Pacheco focused on the body.
With less than a minute to go in the 4th round, Pacheco connected with a left hook to the body that sent Gallegos down to the canvas.
Gallegos would rise to his feet, but when the action resumed, Pacheco hit him with a flurry of shots which caused the referee to step in and put a halt to the contest. Pacheco collected an impressive victory, and for the second fight in a row, he was able to get a stoppage in the fourth round.
Diego Pacheco (19-0, 16 KOs) is a young talent who is living up to the hype. Prior to the fight, Pacheco predicted he would outbox Gallegos, break him down, and then stop him. After the bout, Pacheco acknowledged the fact that he is the chosen one.
“I’m just that guy,” Pacheco said. “I’m getting better, wiser, stronger. The opposition is getting better, but that’s just raising the level of my performance, and you’re going to keep seeing that.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn was impressed with his fighter’s performance. He plans on having Pacheco headline a card later this year in Los Angeles against a high-quality opponent. Hearn believes Pacheco’s career is moving at a nice pace, and he also believes that Pacheco is the future of the super-middleweight division.
“That was such a great performance,” said Hearn. We’ve been watching this young man grow since he was 17 years of age, and we’re so proud of him. It was a small ring in here tonight.
“Gallegos is a big super-middleweight, he’s strong and has a great chin. It was the composure and shot selection; we knew the chin was like granite. He worked him to the body, chopped him down. This young man is going all the way.”