Super middleweight challenger Diego Pacheco impresses with an eleventh-round knockout victory over Immanuwel Aleem in Carson.
Diego Pacheco put on a strong performance Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, defeating Immanuwel Aleem by technical knockout in the eleventh round.
Pacheco (26-0, 19 KOs) started the fight on the offensive and landed a series of hard right hands as early as the first round. He continued with the same strategy in rounds two and three, effectively using his long, precise jab to control the action in the ring.
In the fifth round, Pacheco consistently targeted his opponent’s body and then landed a thunderous uppercut that sent Aleem’s head snapping back. Although Aleem (22-5-3, 14 KOs) pressed forward in the next two rounds, he had to absorb numerous hard body shots for his offensive efforts.
After Aleem had been seriously rocked several times in the later rounds, he was finally knocked down in the eleventh round following a seemingly endless barrage of punches. Although he managed to get back to his feet, referee Ray Corona stopped the fight 28 seconds before the end of the round after Aleem went down onto the canvas a second time under Pacheco’s relentless pressure.
With this victory, Pacheco defended his WBC Silver and WBO International titles while also solidifying his top rankings in both world organizations.
On the undercard, Olympic champion Andy Cruz returned to the ring following his first professional loss to Raymond Muratalla in January’s IBF lightweight world title bout. Cruz (7-1, 4 KOs) made short work of Abraham Montoya (24-8-1, 14 KOs), stopping the Mexican within three rounds.