Diego Pacheco to Face off with Steven Nelson in Las Vegas

Diego Pacheco will square off with Steven Nelson at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on January 25th. The fight will be contested at the super middleweight limit with Pacheco’s WBC USA and WBO International titles on the line. The fight will be presented live via DAZN.

Diego Pacheco (22-0, 18KOs) is coming off an explosive sixth round KO win against Maciej Sulecki in August. In April Pacheco outclassed Shawn McCalman to score a unanimous decision victory. Pacheco sees Nelson has another steppingstone down the path to elite. Pacheco was quoted saying “I’m very excited to be back in the ring early 2025 against another undefeated opponent – the DP show continues,”

Omaha’s very own Steven Nelson (20-0, 16KOs) only fought once in 2024. The undefeated 36-year-old knocked out Marcos Vazquez Rodriguez in the fifth-round back in August. Nelson was quoted saying “This is the type of fight I have been wanting, so I can show the world who I am,”. If Nelson can secure a win to snatch Pacheco’s belt this would raise his stock higher, enabling bigger and more lucrative fights in the future.

Also, on the card we will see Cuba’s Andy Cruz defending his IBF International lightweight title against Mexican Omar Salcido Gamez in a 10-round contest. Cruz (4-0, 2KOs) knocked out Antonio Moran in the seventh round of their bout back in August. Gamez (20-1, 14KOs) Stopped Chris Colbert in the ninth round in October. This fight has all the makings to be a great fight.

We also have Ernesto Mercado (16-0, 15KOs) going up against former two-division world champion Jose Pedraza (29-6-1, 14KOs) of Puerto Rico in a 10 round super lightweight bout. This may be a crossroads fight for Pedraza after facing back-to-back losses after being stopped in the sixth round last February by Keyshawn Davis.

Make sure to head down to the arena or tune into the DAZN come fight night to not miss out on the action!