CARSON — Diego Pacheco will continue his push toward a super-middleweight title shot against fellow top-10 contender Darius Fulghum on Nov. 14 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, Matchroom Boxing announced Friday. The unbeaten South Central Los Angeles native Pacheco, 26-0 (19 KOs), the No. 2-ranked WBO and No. 3-ranked WBC contender at 168 pounds, meets WBA No. 6-ranked Fulghum, 15-1-1 (13 KOs), of Houston in a DAZN-streamed main event.
The card will be jointly broadcast by TNT as the latest edition of its monthly series “The Fight.” Tickets go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. for pre-sale and Tuesday at 10 a.m. for the general public at AXS.com and events365.com. “I’m excited to be fighting in Los Angeles again,” Pacheco said in a prepared statement. “Every time I’ve fought in Los Angeles, I’ve knocked out my opponent, so I’m looking forward to continuing that streak and putting on another great performance for my hometown fans.”
Pacheco, 25, enters off an 11th-round stoppage of Immanuwel Aleem in July, his first bout under new trainer and Hall of Fame fighter Buddy McGirt. The finish gave him a narrow edge over WBC interim champion Lester Martinez, who went the distance with Aleem in March. Fulghum, 30, arrives as a ranked contender looking to derail the home-region favorite.
The bout lands in a division in flux. Four-division champion Canelo Alvarez will seek to regain his WBC belt Oct. 31 against new champion Christian Mbilli, while Mexico’s Jaime Munguia captured the WBC 168-pound belt in May. Elsewhere, new IBF champion Osleys Iglesias is defending his belt this month — promoter Camille Estephan has called him the sport’s most avoided fighter — and Hamzah Sheeraz is vacating his WBO belt rather than face former middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, opening a path for Pacheco with a win over Fulghum.