Diego Pacheco-Steven Nelson, Andy Cruz-Omar Salcido Gamez doubleheader set for Las Vegas
ORLANDO, Florida - Matchroom today confirmed that super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco will take on Steven Nelson at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on January 25, with lightweight starlet Andy Cruz set to do battle with Omar Salcido Gamez on the same bill.
The promotional group, represented by Kevin Rooney Jnr, requested at the WBA convention that Pacheco – currently unranked by the organization – be placed at No. 6 in the rankings at the expense of the inactive Jermall Charlo.
The 23-year-old Pacheco, 22-0 (18 KOs), last fought in August when he knocked out Maciej Sulecki in eight rounds and is highly ranked by the other sanctioning bodies (No. 1 with the WBO, No. 3 with the IBF and No. 4 with the WBC). Nelson, 36, also unbeaten, took his record to 20-0 (16 KOs) when he halted Marcos Vazquez Rodriguez in August on the Terence Crawford-Israel Madrimov undercard.
Matchroom also asked the WBA for the battle between Cuba’s Cruz, 4-0 (2 KOs), and Mexico’s Salcido Gamez, 20-1 (14 KOs), to decide the mandatory position in the lightweight rankings. In October, on a ProBox TV bill, Salcido Gamez beat Chris Colbert via ninth-round stoppage. The highly regarded Cruz, 29, was last seen in August, taking out Antonio Moran in seven rounds.
It was also confirmed by Rooney that middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams will return in March, headlining a bill here at Caribe Royale in Orlando.
Matt Christie, a lifelong fight fan, has worked in boxing for more than 20 years. He left Boxing News in 2024 after 14 years, nine of which were spent as editor-in-chief. Before that, he was the producer of weekly boxing show “KOTV.” Now the co-host of “The Opening Bell” podcast and regularly used in the UK as a pundit, Matt was named as the Specialist Correspondent of the Year at the prestigious Sports Journalism Awards in 2021, which was the seventh SJA Award he accepted during his stint in the hot seat at Boxing News. The following year, he was inducted into the British Boxing Hall of Fame. He is a member of the BWAA and has been honored several times in their annual writing awards.