Eddie Hearn urges Diego Pacheco to take Darius Fulghum rematch after shock defeat

Eddie Hearn, promoter of Diego Pacheco, has urged his charge to exercise his right to a rematch with Darius Fulghum following his shocking defeat on Saturday.

Pacheco, 26-1 (19 KOs), lost a unanimous decision at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, with scores of 115-112 (twice) and 114-113 confirming his fate.

Much has been expected of the 25-year-old Pacheco, and it was thought that Fulghum, 16-1-1 (13 KOs), would represent the final stop before a full-blown super middleweight title charge.

Hearn, however, was far from impressed with Pacheco's performance.

"My advice to Diego and to [his trainer] Buddy McGirt is to exercise that rematch because I don't think you can box much worse than that.

"I think Diego wasn't good enough tonight. He looked – I've never seen him look like that before. He looked exhausted from the second round."

Fulghum, who was a 25/4 underdog heading into the contest, produced a career-best performance.

"I don't think you understand what I had to go through in this fight," said the winner.

"I got this uniform on, King of Hearts. Man, I always say I got the most heart in boxing. I want to win so bad it's crazy.

"I'm just thankful they gave me the opportunity to come in and do my thing.

"I really had to dig deep. The adversity of the crowd – it's a great crowd.

"You all really showed out for Diego. I felt all the animosity, right from the ring walk.

"I remember thinking, 'I'm going to do my thing tonight. They don't know what they're seeing. I'm going to wake them up.'"