Boxing Results: Diego Pacheco KOs Manuel Gallegos In 4th

By Matt Lieberman: Diego Pacheco (19-0, 16 KOs) sent a message to the top super middleweights with his out-of-this-world outstanding fourth round knockout win over Manuel Gallegos (19-2-1, 16 KOs) on Friday night in their scheduled ten round bout at the Cintermex, Monterrey, Mexico.

Pacheco, 22, knocked Gallegos down with a left-hand body shot in round four. Moments later, Pacheco finished off the hurt 26-year-old Gallegos by unleashing a rapid-fire flurry of heavy shots while he was pinned to the ropes.

The referee Sergio Hernandez stepped in and waved it off, ending the bout at 2:45 of round four.

Pacheco had been huge shots in each round, hitting Gallegos with uppercuts, overhand rights, and hard boy shots that slowly wore him down. It wasn’t all Pacheco, though, as Gallegos was landing a lot of hard punches himself but without the same power on them.

After the fight, Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn made it known that he plans on bringing Pacheco back later this year against a top 15 contender.

Hearn didn’t mention who the opponent might be. He did say that he wants to step Pacheco up next year against Jaime Munguiaa and Edgar Berlanga.

The way Pacheco fought tonight, he might already be good enough to beat Canelo Alvarez, Jermell & Jermall Charlo.

“We’ll have a big show in LA later in the year; South Central LA is going to come out for this young man,” said Hearn. “We’ll be looking for a top 15 opponent, 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 LA against a credible 168lber.”

Even if Hearn isn’t able to get one of those two names for Pacheco, it would be fun to see him match him against David Morrell Jr and Benavidez.

“He showed that he could take a shot. You don’t want to take too many, but when you do take a shot, you want to show that you have a chin, and he showed that,” said Gabriel Rosado to DAZN Boxing about Diego Pacheco in his win over Manuel Gallegos.

“The jab was the key to the fight. Left hook to the liver. It was a great shot for him. He didn’t put anything on that right hand. That right hand was to distract Gallegos so he could throw a left hook to the body [in round four].

“I love to see a young fighter improving, taking his craft serious, and that’s what you see with Pacheco. I love the pace that they’re [Matchroom Boxing] moving him. Each fight is a tougher fight, and he’s answering the question that he’s the real deal. He’s a real fighter.

“He took some from a hard hitter,” said Corey Erdman about Pacheco. “You saw the smile on Pacheco’s face as he landed that. He pointed right to his corner.

“Well, the 168-lb division is going to have this man to deal with, and it might be a little sooner than we expected. The 22-year-old Diego Pacheco with another explosive knockout performance. It was a second straight fourth round stoppage victory for Diego Pacheco.

“It didn’t take long to break Gallegos down, and you saw the knowing look of approval from Manuel Gallegos. Again, to put this in perspective. This is a big, tough, rugged fighter who is known for his ability to absorb shots.

“We saw him take some collosol shots from Richard Vansiclen last time out, but we wondered, ‘Is the power of Diego Pacheco different?’ It certainly looked like it in the ring tonight.”

“Absolutely,” said Rosado. “Gallegos came rough, rugged. Nothing special, but he’s mean. He’s coming forward, but he didn’t break Diego’s will. He stuck to the game plan. Great jab, great bodywork, and I loved what I saw.”

“Diego Pacheco now 19-0. What a moment for him here, heading in Mexico. It’s his second headliner here on DAZN, and he looked like a headliner,” said Erdman.

“It was a fantastic win for Diego Pacheco, and as you heard from him and Eddie Hearn. There are some potential big fights coming your way involving Diego Pacheco in 2024, but well before that, there are some big fights coming your way on DAZN in the coming weeks.”

Other results:

Eduardo Hernandez (34-1 31 KOs) defeated Hector Garcia (20-8-4 13 KOs) in just three rounds. After shaking Garcia with a right hand at the end of the second round, Hernandez, also known as ‘Rocky’, didn’t let go. A left hook from Hernandez once again staggered Garcia. However, this time, Hernandez capitalized on the situation, landing a brutal knockout in just 25 seconds.

Jonathan Rodriguez (24-2-1 16 KOs) vs Israel Gonzalez (28-5-2 11 KOs) ended in a split draw. The constant jabbing and movement from Gonzalez, matched against the precise pressure from Rodriguez, made the fight hard to judge. After ten grueling rounds, each fighter scored 96-94 from one judge, while the third judge called it a draw at 95-95.

Neider Valdez (9-0-2 8 KOs) of Monterrey fought against Isaias Ortiz (5-4 3 KOs). After a competitive first two rounds, Valdez delivered a powerful left hook to the body, securing an impressive knockout victory.

The event kicked off with Federico Pacheco (4-0 3 KOs), Diego’s younger brother, displaying an impressive performance in just his fourth professional bout. The 19-year-old unleashed a flurry of body shots in the second round, knocking down Oscar Heredia.