Paulie Malignaggi believes unbeaten 168-lb contender Diego Pacheco’s performance against Maciej Sulecki this Saturday night could factor in his chance to challenge Canelo Alvarez next for his three super middleweight titles.
(Credit: Matchroom Boxing: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.
Pacheco’s Performance is Key
Malignaggi says it could come down to how Pacheco (21-0, 17 KOs) looks against the veteran Sulecki (32-2, 12 KOs) in their fight. If Pacheco, 23, looks vulnerable in winning, it could help him get selected by Canelo because he believes the Mexican star only wants non-threats. If Pacheco looks too good, he won’t get picked by Canelo.
The Matchroom-promoted Pacheco will face Sulecki, 35, in a 12-round headliner on August 31st at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Los Angeles. The event will be shown live on DAZN starting at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Malignaggi feels that Canelo would want to fight Pacheco before he improves. In other words, he would fight him before he got really good in the same way Floyd Mayweather Jr. cherry-picked him in 2013 when Canelo was just 22 years old and not the fighter he developed into. That version of Canelo would have likely knocked Mayweather out cold.
“Pacheco, in his last fight, didn’t impress me. He had a smaller guy [6’0″ Shawn McCalman] in there, very athletic that was able to dart in and dart out on him,” said boxing pundit Tim Bradley to the Probox TV YouTube channel, talking about whether Diego Pacheco would be a threat to unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
He started slow in Pacheco’s last fight against McCalman, but once he figured out his style, he dominated the second half. McCalman’s hand speed and diving in gave Pacheco problems early. Pacheco looked good in the fight, firing off beautiful four-punch combinations with power and controlling the fight.
“His feet seemed a little bit slow. He seemed to be out of sorts in sports,” Bradley continued about the 23-year-old Pacheco. “I was thinking, ‘He’s not ready yet.’ So, to be mentioning his name with Canelo, absolutely not. Canelo would run through him. He [Pacheco] might be at 175 in two or three years. He’s 23-years-old. He’ll probably outgrow the weight class.”
Pacheco was slow compared to McCalman, but his hand speed was actually quite good. McCalman had very fast hands and surprisingly good power. McCalman would give problems to many fighters in the division, including Christian Mbilli and Caleb Plant.
“In a couple of years, Pacheco will be dangerous, but if he [Canelo] fights him now, that’s a Canelo fight all day,” said Chris Algieri.
Canelo’s Preference for Non-Threats
“Pacheco is a terror at 168. He’s a big 168, as is David Benavidez. He probably has all the tools that a guy like Canelo doesn’t want to see looking the way he has,” said Paulie Malignaggi. “I think it’s going to come down to how he looks against Sulecki. I think that’s going to go a long way to whether he gets consideration or not,” said Malignaggi about whether Pacheco will get selected for Canelo’s next opponent.
Pacheco is dangerous now for anyone in the super middleweight division due to his size, power, and combination punching. I would pick him to beat Caleb Plant, and he could potentially beat Mbilli.
