Diego Pacheco may be only a step away from Lester Martinez

CARSON, California – Each California main event secured for Diego Pacheco has been an expanded version of the last.

With South Central Los Angeles’ Pacheco, 26-0 (19 KOs), poised to draw an impressive Saturday night crowd to Dignity Sports Health Park here for his DAZN card-topper versus Darius Fulghum, there’s something more monumental brewing.

Both Pacheco, 25, and his promoter Eddie Hearn on Thursday spoke in enthusiastic tones about the potential for staging a showdown in victory against Guatemala’s unbeaten WBC interim 168lbs titleholder Diego Pacheco.

“Lester Martinez, he’s one of the best fighters,” Pacheco told BoxingScene. “I was at his last fight [at L.A.’s Galen Center on the USC campus] and was watching his crowd. It was crazy. I’ve never seen anything like this, with his people from his country crying at ringside over how proud they were. Even before he fought and was on the [big screen], everyone was yelling, with tears coming. …

“It was just so cool to see, and it made me like, ‘Yo, I need to fight this guy because his people are following him.’”

Hearn, who knows the business of boxing well, said, “Pacheco-Martinez is such a great fight. … Lester Martinez is a brilliant fighter with a huge fan base. Lester’s basically a hero in Guatemala. We’ve got to tell that story.”

Pacheco, the son of Mexican immigrants, is generating mounting buzz from his boxing-loving countrymen as he stages his third main event at the famed outdoor “War Grounds” of Carson since August 2024.

An expected action tilt with the heavy-handed and desperate-for-a-win WBA No. 4 contender Fulghum, 15-1-1 (13 KOs), is seen as another springboard for the No. 1-ranked WBC and No. 2 WBO contender Pacheco.

In July, Pacheco one-upped Martinez by stopping top-15-ranked contender Immanuwel Aleem four months after Aleem took Martinez the distance.

With Pacheco in the building, Martinez, 21-0-1 (17 KOs), knocked out Luka Plantic in the 10th round in late August.

The idea of meshing a crowd like that with Pacheco’s fan base under one roof – like the Lakers’ Crypto.com Arena home in downtown L.A. – appeals to all.

“His people are following him,” Pacheco said. “I was interacting with [Martinez’s] fans, taking pictures with them, and I know beating him will bring me a lot of fans, too.”

At 6-feet-4, with a 79-inch reach, Pacheco sees his task under trainer and Hall of Fame fighter Buddy McGirt as posting a convincing victory over Fulghum to drench the Martinez showdown with credibility.

“We take care of Fulghum, we’re on to way bigger things,” said Pacheco, who is expected to lean heavily on his potent jab. “As long as I’m 100 percent, I can beat anyone.”

Martinez, meanwhile, was dealt a setback of sorts this week when WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman declined to order new full titlist Canelo Alvarez to fight Martinez next, just as Sulaiman did with former super middleweight mandatory contender David Benavidez.

“Fight each other in front of 15,000, and trust me when I say the [Pacheco-Martinez] winner will get Canelo Alvarez,” Hearn advised. “I hope we can do something with Lester Martinez.”

With four-division champion Alvarez reportedly mulling a move to fight new WBC light heavyweight belt holder Willy Hutchinson next, the void and perhaps vacating of the super middleweight title perfectly sets the stage for Pacheco-Martinez.

“It makes a lot of sense with me being the No. 1 WBC [contender] right now and Lester being the interim champion – a fight with me and him is equal to fighting Canelo,” Pacheco said. “To fight for the title. Lester Martinez has an amazing team with [trainer Brian] ‘BoMac’ [McIntyre] and all those guys. I have a great team, and I’m a great fighter as well, and so it makes for an amazing fight.”