Diego Pacheco is set for his first headlining act.
It comes more than 5,000 air miles from home, as the 21-year-old South Central Los Angeles native will face Jack Cullen in a scheduled 10-round super middleweight bout. Both boxers made weight for their makeshift main event this Saturday on DAZN from M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.
Pacheco packed 166.4 pounds into his lean 6’4” frame, while Little Lever’s Cullen was 167 ½ pounds.
Local favorite Callum Smith was originally due to headline the show versus Poland’s Pawel Stepien. However, the fight was scrapped when Smith—a former WBA super middleweight titlist and current WBC light heavyweight mandatory challenger—tweaked his back which put him on the sidelines for roughly 6-8 weeks from the point of injury.
Pacheco (17-0, 14KOs) is coming off a 2022 Prospect of the Year-nominated campaign that saw the unbeaten boxer score four knockout wins in as many fights. His most recent feat came in a two-round blitzing of Adrian Luna on the Juan Francisco Estrada-Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez undercard last December 3 in Glendale, Arizona. A chief sparring partner for two-time WBC super middleweight titlist David Benavidez, Pacheco has stopped each of his last six opponents.
The always entertaining Cullen (21-3-1, 9KOs) fought just once in 2022, earning an eight-round points victory over Vladimir Belujsky last April 16 in Manchester, England. The feat put the 29-year-old Cullen back in the win column after he suffered a sixth-round stoppage defeat to unbeaten Kevin Lele Sadjo in December 2021.
DAZN main card (7:00 p.m. GMT/2:00 p.m. ET)
Robbie Davies Jr. (23-3, 15KOs), Kirkby, Merseyside, 139 ¾ pounds vs. Darragh Foley (21-4-1, 9KOs), Bondi, New South Wales, Australia, 139.4 pounds—10 rounds, junior welterweight
Johnny Fisher (7-0, 6KOs), Romford, London, 240 ½ pounds vs. Alfonso Damiani (6-2, 2KOs), Subiaco, Italy, 233.8 pounds—8 rounds, heavyweight
Peter McGrail (6-0, 5KOs), Liverpool, 123 ½ pounds vs. Nicolas Nahuel Botelli (14-7, 8KOs), Salta, Argentina, 123 ¾ pounds—10 rounds, featherweight
Rhiannon Dixon (7-0, 0KOs), Warrington, Cheshire, 134 ¾ pounds vs. Vicky Wilkinson (5-0-1, 0KOs), Wombourne, Staffordshire, 132.1 pounds—10 rounds, lightweight
Matchroom YouTube ‘Before The Bell’ Prelims (4:30 p.m. GMT/11:30 a.m. ET)
Aqib Fiaz (10-0, 0KOs), Oldham, Lancashire, 134.4 pounds vs. Dean Dodge (9-2-1, 3KOs), Yeovil, Somerset, 132.9 pounds—8 rounds, junior lightweight
*Fiaz 0.4 pounds over the contracted 134-pound limit
Paddy Lacey (7-0, 1KO), Liverpool, 162.8 pounds vs. James McCarthy (2-4-1, 0KOs), Liverpool, 160.9 pounds—6 rounds, middleweight
Campbell Hatton (9-0, 3KOs), Manchester, 140.3 pounds vs. Michel Gonxhe (4-2-1, 0KOs), Frankfurt, Germany, 136.8 pounds—6 rounds, junior welterweight
George Liddard (1-0, 1KO), Billericay, Essex, 162.1 pounds vs. Daniel Przewieslik (3-12-2, 3KOs), Ruda Slaska, Poland, 161.1 pounds—4 rounds, middleweight
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox