Diego Pacheco continues to win and do impressively.

Pacheco won by knockout Friday night, stopping fringe super middleweight contender Manuel Gallegos in the fourth round at the Cintermex in Monterrey, Mexico.

From the opening bell, Gallegos attempted to walk Pacheco down. Gallegos did connect with the occasional hook or cross, but Pacheco found success throwing and landing right or left uppercuts to the head.

As the fight progressed, Pacheco’s timing and accuracy began to take their toll on Gallegos. Pacheco never backed up, instead holding his ground in the center of the ring, and utilizing his speed and ability to vary his offense to then put Gallegos on the defensive.

Pacheco was at his best in the fourth round. With less than a minute left, a well-placed left hook to the body dropped Gallegos to one knee. Gallegos did beat the count, but Pacheco was on the attack. Pacheco battered Gallegos, sending him reeling towards the ropes before referee Miguel Canul stepped in to stop the fight at 2:45 of the fourth episode of the scheduled ten-rounder.

The 22-year-old Pacheco, who resides in the South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, improved to 19-0, 16 knockouts.

The win over Gallegos was Pacheco’s seventh consecutive knockout victory. Pacheco was coming off a fourth-round knockout win over former top prospect Jack Cullen on March 11 in Liverpool, England. The victory over Cullen took place over three months after Pacheco stopped former fringe contender Ricardo Luna in the second round.

“I’m just that guy,” said Pacheco, who made his pro debut in 2019. “I’m getting better, wiser, stronger. The opposition is getting better, but that’s just raising the level of my performance and you are going to keep seeing that.”

Promoter Eddie Hearn is planning for Pacheco to have his next fight take place in the Los Angeles area.

“This young man has headlined against a Brit in England, against a Mexican in Mexico, next, it’s time to go to Los Angeles,” said Hearn. “We’ll have a big show in L.A. later in the year. South Central L.A. is going to come out for this young man and we’re going to have a great night.

“Diego talks about the likes of Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia – those are big fights for 2024. I want to finish the year with a big performance in L.A. against a credible 168-pounder. We’ll be looking for a top 15 opponent.”

Gallegos, who resides in the boxing hotbed of Los Mochis, Mexico, falls to 19-2-1, 16 KOs. The 26-year-old was coming off a majority decision draw against then-unbeaten Richard Vansiclen on February 22.

July 7, 2023; Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico; Diego Pacheco and Manuel Gallegos during their fight at the Cintermex in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.

In the co-feature, junior lightweight contender Eduardo ‘Rocky’ Hernandez of Mexico City stopped late-sub Hector Garcia in the third round.

Hernandez, who was making his debut as a fighter signed to Matchroom Boxing, improved to 34-1, 31 KOs.

The 25-year-old Hernandez was originally scheduled to face unbeaten Joniker Tovar of Venezuela, but the fight was scrapped after Tovar reportedly had visa issues that prevented him from entering Mexico.

From the opening bell, Hernandez was the aggressor. The tactic worked as Hernandez connected with vicious hooks and crosses to Garcia’s head. Garcia was game, choosing to stay in the pocket and fight back. A right cross towards the end of the second round seemed to stun Garcia.

Hernandez was unable to follow up as the bell sounded to end the round, but was on the attack at the start of round 3. Moments into the round, a barrage of punches, punctuated by a right-left combination to the head, dropped Garcia to the canvas, prompting referee Sergio Hernandez to stop the fight at 25 seconds.

The win over Garcia was Hernandez’s sixth consecutive victory, all by knockout, since his loss to Roger Gutierrez in July 2019.

Garcia, who resides in Tijuana, Mexico, falls to 20-8-4, 13 KOs. The 28-year-old was unbeaten in his previous 10 fights.

Former world junior bantamweight title challenger Israel Gonzalez (28-5-2, 11 KOs) of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and Jonathan Gonzalez (24-2-1, 16 KOs) of San Luis Potosi, Mexico fought to a split-decision draw.

Each fighter won 96-94 on a judge’s scorecard, but the third judge had the fight scored a draw.

In junior flyweight action, Neider Alvarez improved to 9-0-2, 8 KOs, knocking out Mexico City’s Isaias Ortiz (5-4, 3 KOs) at 1:50 of the third round. A left hook to the body dropped Ortiz to one knee, where he was counted out by referee Cesar Garcia.

In the opening bout of the DAZN stream, heavyweight Federico Pacheco, the younger brother of Diego Pacheco, knocked out Oscar Heredia Arias (2-3, 1 KO) in the second round. The 19-year-old Pacheco improved to 4-0, 3 KOs.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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