Super middleweight prospect Diego Pacheco generally has respect for any fighter whom steps through the ropes.

However Rodolfo Gomez Jr. is the rare exception.

The two were initially slated to square off on the Canelo Alvarez-Callum Smith 168-pound championship unification card last December in San Antonio. But after experiencing flu-like symptoms, Pacheco’s team abruptly pulled the plug.

Gomez then became spiteful, turning to social media to accuse Pacheco of running from the fight.

The 19-year-old was unaware of Gomez’s comments until his brother informed him.

“I had respect for Gomez until he started talking crazy. Fuck this guy. I’m gonna knock his ass out within three rounds.”

When asked if a third round knockout was on his mind prior to Gomez’s verbal jab, Pacheco was candid.

“To be honest, no,” he stated. “I never had a prediction on my mind but my mentality has always been that I would dominate him.

“Now it’s more than that. I’m going to embarrass him.”

The 6-foot-4, Los Angeles-based Pacheco (10-0, 8 knockouts) will put his words and undefeated record on the line in a scheduled eight-round affair against Gomez on yet another Canelo undercard. The Ring’s No. 1 pound-for-pound-rated fighter will make a mandatory defense against Avni Yildirim on February 27 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

Pacheco fought twice in 2020 despite the impact of the coronavirus. Before the shutdown, he overcame an injury to his right hand to shut out veteran Oscar Riojas, in March, on the undercard of the 12-round welterweight main event featuring Mikey Garcia versus Jessie Vargas in Texas.

While Pacheco wouldn’t fight for the next eight months, until October 23, when he traveled to the confines of Mexico City to ice Juan Antonio Mendez within two rounds, he admitted to The Ring that the layoff was beneficial for the aforementioned injury.

“To be honest, the long break helped me a lot,” he stated. “I’ve had this hand injury since the amateurs.

“I messed up my hand [during the Riojas fight] and the time off helped me recover. By the time I knocked out Mendez, my hand was 100 percent.”

The 31-year-old Gomez (14-4-1, 10 KOs), a Mexico native based in Texas, has won his last three fights, with one of them coming against former two-division champion Ricardo Mayorga, whose professional career has gone on long past its expiration date.

“Rodolfo is a good step-up fight for me,” Pacheco said. “He has been in there with guys with good quality, but he still hasn’t faced anybody like me.

“I’m going to get him out of there and move on to the next [opponent].”

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