Diego Pacheco is serious about his desire to take over the super middleweight division.
A dangerous assignment awaits the rising contender, who will take on Kevin Lele Sadjo. The matchup between unbeaten 168lbs contenders will headline a December 13 DAZN show from Adventist Health Arena in Stockton, California.
Matchroom Boxing confirmed the event on Saturday. The card will also feature BoxingScene’s 2024 Prospect of the Year Ernesto “Tito” Mercado, who has hit a run of bad luck with opponents falling through. An opponent was not yet named for the 23-year-old 140lbs Mercado, from Pomona, California.
Key to the fight taking place at this location is the addition of Stockton’s own Gabriel Flores Jnr, a resurgent lightweight contender with a huge following in the region. The 25-year-old Flores’ presence on the undercard figures to help fill the 12,000-seat venue, where he will appear for the fifth time.
The fight will mark the third of the year for the 24-year-old Pacheco, 24-0 (18 KOs), who went the 12-round distance in each of his previous two appearances. Pacheco outpointed unbeaten Steven Nelson atop a January 25 DAZN card from The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas the first time he was extended beyond the 10th round.
That feat was matched in his most recent outing, a lopsided decision over Trevor McCumby on July 19 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Pacheco entered the fight under the guidance of Jose Benavidez Snr, with whom he had trained since 2022.
As previously reported by BoxingScene’s Lance Pugmire, Pacheco and Benavidez have since gone their separate ways after an amicable split. A new trainer was not yet publicly confirmed as this story goes to publication.
Sadjo, 26-0 (23 KOs), will be making his stateside debut against Pacheco. A well-traveled 35-year-old Cameroonian Frenchman, Sadjo has fought largely in France, with stops in England, Belgium, Central Africa and the Bahamas through his perfect run as a pro.
Unfortunately, the best moments of Sadjo’s career thus far are better known for who wouldn’t fight him rather than who he has defeated. He was due to face Christian Mbilli in an IBF title eliminator in May. However, Mbilli was pulled from the fight by Eye of the Tiger Management, his promoter, which claimed Sadjo’s team violated the terms of the purse bid agreement that would have brought their fight to Paris.
Sadjo instead faced and defeated Habib Ahmed via third-round knockout in Equatorial Guinea. He followed the win with a fourth-round stoppage of overmatched Martin Ezequiel Bulacio on August 28 in Enghein, France. The win was his third straight inside the distance and ninth within his past 10 fights.
Stakes for the fight were not yet determined. Pacheco is ranked in the top 15 of all four sanctioning bodies. It is not yet certain what the next steps are for newly crowned undisputed champion Terence “Bud” Crawford, or if he even plans to fight again after a legacy-defining win over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
That level of uncertainty should make it easier for Matchroom, on behalf of Pacheco, to leverage a sanctioning body to recognize the fight as at least a final eliminator, or even an interim title fight with the WBO. Pacheco is No. 3 with the organization, while Sadjo is No. 8.
