Tag Archives: diego

Posted on 02/21/2019

By: Sean Crose

Fighters may be plying their trade at much older ages than was previously common. Still, professional boxing is essentially a young man’s game. Diego Pacheco, however, might well be the youngest pro fighter of note at the moment. For, on Saturday night at the Auditorio Municipal Fausto Gutierrez in Tijuana, Mexico, the LA native will engage in his second professional bout – and he’s only 17. For this reason, the young man can’t fight in the United States until he’s 18. After an impressive amateur run, however, Pacheco felt it was simply time to enter the pro ranks of the sweet science.

“I’m excited to get back out so soon,” says the fighter, who bested Luis Gonzalez last December within a single round at the same Auditorio Municipal Fausto Guitierrez he will enter the ring in on Saturday. “Since the amateurs I’ve been fighting in Tijuana, and it feels great to get back there for my second pro fight.”

“The debut was a really good experience,” Pacheco says of his victory over Gonzalez late last year. “It was nothing like I expected, turning from amateur to pro, but it was a great experience and I can’t wait to do it again.” Pacheco’s opponent on Saturday will be another 1-0 fighter, Alberto Aguilar of Mexico. Pacheco believes fans will see an even stronger performance than they did in December. ““In my first fight I felt like was a little nervous,” he says, “so I felt like I was holding back a little bit, this fight I want to let my hands go a little more. It was towards the end of the round where I started letting my hands go, and that’s where I hit him and dropped him.”

Tall and lean, the middleweight is taking things at a reasonable pace. “By the end of this year,” he says, “I just want to get as much experience as I can. I’m only 17 so there’s no rush. Personally, I have a lot of guys that I want to get. I just want to put a good few first fights in and just take over when the time is right, I have a great team around me and we won’t be rushed.” Aligned with superpromoter Eddie Hearn, Pacheco will have powerful support on his quest for bigger things.

The Pacheco-Aguilar fight, scheduled for four rounds, will be aired live by the DAZN streaming service this Saturday night (2/23) as part of the Brandon Rios-Humberto Soto undercard.

Posted on 12/20/2018

By: Jake Donovan

In the aftermath of his 44-second destruction of Mason Menard at MSG Hulu Theatre earlier this month, Teofimo Lopez told anyone who’d listen that he wants the toughest challenges from here on out.

The staff at Top Rank was clearly listening—and has delivered for his next fight.

Lopez (11-0, 9KOs) will take his first big step in advancing to the contender stage when he returns to the ring. Awaiting the red-hot unbeaten prospect will be two-time title challenger Diego Magdaleno, with their scheduled 10-round lightweight bout to stream on ESPN+ on February 2 live from The Ford Center in Frisco, Texas.

BoxingScene.com contributor and videographer Ryan Burton was the first to report news of the fight being finalized.

The bout comes as part of a loaded card on the eve of Super Bowl Sunday, with three title fights also on the bill. Lopez-Magdaleno will stream live on ESPN+ in supporting capacity to the light heavyweight title fight rematch between unbeaten titlist Eleider Alvarez (24-0, 12KOs) and former champ Sergey Kovalev (32-3-1, 28KOs).

On the ESPN portion of the show, Oscar Valdez (24-0, 19KOs) defends his featherweight title versus Italy’s Carmine Tommasone (19-0, 5KOs), while Ghana’s Richard Commey (27-2, 24KOs) and Russia’s Isa Chaniev (13-1, 6KOs) battle for a vacant lightweight title.

The latter bout has Lopez’ attention, as the 21-year old Brooklyn native is eager to transition from prospect to title contender in a hurry.

“One of the belts I just won was the USBA lightweight title, which is the regional title for the IBF,” Lopez told BoxingInsider.com in offering a glimpse into his planned title pursuit. “So that gave me a sign that I will be fighting for a world title next year. That title is vacant, so I’d love to fight whoever wins (Commey-Chaniev) after my next fight.”

No better way to plan for a title run than to test your skills versus someone who’s been there before.

“We’re trying to challenge Teofimo with all types of styles and experienced guys as he develops,” Carl Moretti, Top Rank VP of Boxing Operations told BoxingInsider.com in selecting Magdaleno. “Diego obviously fits that. Let’s see what the kid can do.”

On the other side of the equation, the one-time rising contender is also curious what he can still do on the big stage.

It was just a few short years ago when Magdaleno (31-2, 13KOs) and his brother Jessie were the talk of the town as rising prospects to watch. Jessie made it all the way to the finish line, picking up a 122-pound belt before conceding to Isaac Dogboe earlier this year.

For older brother Diego, the hope is that his third time will be a charm—if in fact there’s a third time to be had.

The Las Vegas-based southpaw has only lost to reigning titlists, coming up just short in a disputed split decision defeat to then-130 pound titlist Roman Martinez in April ’13. A five-fight win streak and a move up in weight put Magdaleno right back in title contention, only to suffer a 2nd round knockout at the hands of Terry Flanagan in their Oct. ’15 lightweight title fight on the road in Manchester, England.

Magdaleno has since posted three straight wins, including a 10-round decision over fellow southpaw Jesus Cuadro in his most recent outing this past September in Cancun, Mexico.

For Lopez, it’s a quick turnaround that even surpassed his own expectations. Plans called for the lightweight knockout artist—who represented Honduras in the 2016 Rio Olympics—to return either in February or March, the latter contingent on plans being finalized for a Terence Crawford-headlined show at Madison Square Garden.

Of course, opportunity always trumps location. With plans for Crawford’s next bout still being firmed up, an executive decision was made to have Lopez appear on the February 2 bill, which will mark his just second appearance in the Lone Star State.

His lone other bout in Texas will have come almost one year to the day by the time he enters the ring versus Magdaleno. That particular contest was also the last time he’s been extended the distance, settling for a six-round shutout of Juan Pablo Sanchez at close to the super lightweight limit this past February in Corpus Christi.

The win was his first of four in 2018, the balance all coming inside the distance and at lightweight where he plans to remain—at least until he gets a title or two around his waist.

“I want to win my first title at lightweight and hopefully be at this weight long enough to beat all the champs including Lomachenko, either next year or 2020,” insists Lopez.

Posted on 11/16/2018

By Jake Donovan

Diego de la Hoya wanted nothing more than to headline a show in his hometown of Mexicali, Mexico. The assignment he accepted this weekend to make that happen had already come at the expense of what could have been his first world title shot.

Instead of an in-ring homecoming, de la Hoya will instead spend the rest of the weekend in a hospital while his team is forced to think hard about his future.

Photo Credit: Diego de la Hoya’s Twitter Account

The 24-year old rising contender was forced to withdraw from his planned hometown showcase this weekend after being hospitalized following a fainting spell on Thursday. The incident was due to his trying to cut the last few pounds ahead of his planned clash with Edixon Perez, but passed out during a final training session and was rushed to the emergency room for immediate treatment.

“Diego was working on dropping his usual week-of weight, when he suddenly passed out,” Joel de la Hoya, Diego’s uncle and manager informed BoxingInsider.com on Friday. “[He] was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was administered and EKG and potassium drip. He was kept overnight for observation.”

de la Hoya (21-0, 10KOs) will likely remain in the hospital over the weekend, as his potassium levels are still too low to be medically cleared.

The show will go on in Mexicali, with Senesia Estrada now being moved into the main event slot. The unbeaten junior flyweight from East Los Angeles will face Venezuela’s Debora Rengifo in a scheduled 10-round bout which will air live on TV Azteca.

While a speedy and healthy recovery is first and foremost for de la Hoya, the young contender and his team will have to have a tough conversation about his future.

The unfortunate incident marks the second time in less than a year that de la Hoya was unable to shrink down to the 122-pound super bantamweight limit. He was forced to bow out of a planned ESPN2-headlined clash with Jose Salgado last December.

Their bout was rescheduled, with de la Hoya dominating his countryman en route to a 7th round stoppage this past June in Verona, New York. The win—which will serve as his lone piece of ring action in 2018—was supposed to mark a turning point in his career, as he had at his disposal a mandatory title challenge of unbeaten reigning champ Isaac Dogboe.

However, de la Hoya agreed to allow for the next available contender, countryman Emmanuel Navarrete to jump the line in order to fulfill a career dream of fighting at home. The bulk of de la Hoya’s career has taken place in the United States, with the exception of a stay busy win over Alan Luques last summer on the road in Argentina.

Regardless of who prevails in the December 8 clash between Dogboe and Navarrete, a shot at the winner was very much a consideration for de la Hoya following this weekend. Given recent events, it’s possible that his first career title fight will have to come at a weight more befitting his overall health.

“I’ll talk to team in following days,” states Joel de la Hoya. “Diego has been campaigning at 118-122 for almost 10 years, so it’s definitely something to take into consideration.”

Posted on 06/09/2018

Diego De La Hoya (21-0, 10 KOs), the quick-handed super bantamweight contender of Mexicali, Mexico, successfully defended his NABF and NABO Super Bantamweight Titles against Jose “Sugar” Salgado (35-5-2, 28 KOs) of Cozumel, Mexico via technical knockout at the end of the seventh round of the scheduled 10-round main event of the June 8 edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y. De La Hoya’s relentless and fast-paced aggression were too much for Salgado to handle, which forced his corner to call a halt to the bout at the end of the aforementioned round.

Photo Credit: Matt Heasley – Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions

“We knew that he [Salgado] had been training since October of last year,” said Diego De La Hoya.”Obviously that’s because the fight was delayed, but the fight took place tonight and thank God it was great. I brawled so that people would see that I am indeed a Mexican fighter. He has a lot of experience and a lot of power, but I still brawled to give a great show. I’ll need to talk to my team about what’s next, but hopefully something very good.”

“I felt really tight in this fight, but that’s because the inactivity really affected me,” said Jose Salgado. “I take no credit away from Diego De La Hoya, and I fought a good fight despite the inactivity. He’s a great fighter, and he’ll be a future world champion.”

In tonight’s co-main event,Travell “Black Magic” Mazion (13-0, 11 KOs) of Austin, Texas retained his undefeated record as he beat Orlando, Florida’s Daquan Pauldo (17-2, 9 KOs) by unanimous eight-round decision. Mazion won with scores of 77-75, 77-75 and 78-74.

Danielto Zorrilla (7-0, 6 KOs) of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico delivered a devastating left hook to the body to defeat stop Julio Perez (4-3) of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico in the first of a scheduled four-round super lightweight fight.

Golden Boy Promotions prospect Alex Rincon (4-0, 4 KOs) of Carrollton, Texas scored two knockdowns en route to a first-round technical knockout victory over Engelberto Valenzuela (11-14, 3 KOs) of Agua Prieta, Mexico. The fight, which was originally slated for four rounds at the middleweight limit of 160 pounds, was stopped at 1:35 of the aforementioned round.

Lawrence Gabriel (3-1-1, 2 KOs) of Syracuse, New York scored a second-round technical knockout victory against Jimmy Blevins (0-3) of Buffalo, New York in a fight that was originally scheduled for four rounds in the heavyweight division.

Isaac Rodrigues (25-2, 20 KOs) Mocajuba, Brazil stopped Frankie Filippone (25-8-1, 9 KOs) of Chesapeake, Virginia in the fourth round of an eight-round light heavyweight clash. Rodrigues scored two knockdowns, the second of which forced the stoppage at 1:46 of the fourth round.

Armus Guyton (1-0) from Ithaca, N.Y. defeated Mike Diorio (0-1) from Cortland, N.Y. by unanimous decision in the opening bout, a four-round cruiserweight contest. Both fighters made their professional debut in a fight that Guyton won with scores of 39-37, 39-37 and 40-36.

Posted on 06/07/2018

By: Ken Hissner

Unbeaten No. 2 WBC Super Bantamweight Diego de La Hoya, 20-0 (9), of Baja CA, MEX, looks to stay unbeaten Friday on ESPN2 when he meets No. 15 Jose Salgado, 36-4-2 (29), of Quintana Roo, MEX, at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, in Verona, NY, on IBHOF weekend. This is for the NABF Super Bantamweight and WBO NABO Super Bantamweight titles over 10 rounds.

Photo Credit: Diego De La Hoya Twitter Account

This is a Golden Boy Promotions – Oscar De La Hoya with the Oneida Indian Nation Athletic Commission overseeing the event.

Super Welterweight Travell “Black Magic” Mazion, 12-0 (11), of Austin, TX, takes on Daquan Arnett, 17-1 (9), of Winter Park, FL, over 8 rounds.

June 8 GBP on ESPN Diego De La Hoya from Golden Boy Digital on Vimeo.

Middleweight Isaac Rodrigues, 24-2 (19), of Belem, Para, BRZ, looks to extend his seven fight win streak not losing since 2011 when he takes on Frankie “The Freight Train” Filippone, 25-7-1 (9), of Norfolk, VA, over 8 rounds.

Super Lightweight Kenneth “Bossman” Sims, Jr., 12-0 (4), of Chicago, IL, takes on TBA, over 6 rounds. Super Welterweight southpaw Alex Rincon, 3-0 (3), of Carollton, TX, takes on Engelberto “Guarura” Valenzuela, 11-13 (3), of Sonora, TX, over 4 rounds.

Cruiserweight Lawrence Gabriel, 2-1-1 (1), of Syracuse, NY, takes on Jimmy Levins, 0-2 (0), of Buffalo, NY, over 4 rounds. Welterweight Danielito “El Zorro” Zorrilla, 6-0 (5), Rio Piedras, PR, takes on Julio “El Cubano” Perez, 6-20-3 (4), of Tamaulipus, MEX, over

Posted on 09/16/2017

By: William Holmes

Three bouts were televised on tonight’s HBO PPV offering before the start of the main event between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin.

The undercard fight between Nicola Adams and Alexandra Vlajk was called off after Alexandra Vlajk failed the pre-fight medical. Three fights were on the untelevised undercard in front of a nearly empty arena.

Photo Credit: HBO Boxing

The first bout of the televised portion of the pay per view was between Ryan Martin (19-0) and Francisco Rojo (19-2) for the WBC Continental Americas and WBA Inter-Continental Lightweight Titles.

Martin was the taller fighter and fights out of an orthodox stance, but was previously promoted by 50 Cent and has been relatively inactive the past few years.

Martin stayed busy with his jab in the opening two rounds and Rojo targeted the body, but not much action and Rojo was slightly busier than Martin.

Rojo complained to the referee about punches landing to the back of the head and Martin appeared to be shaking off ring rust. Rojo continued to come forward in the fourth and fifth rounds and was the more aggressive fighter of the two.

Martin was able to land a good double left hook to the body and head in the sixth round but that may have been his best combination of the first half of the fight. Rojo was able to momentarily stun Martin with a right cross in the seventh round and Martin was warned by the referee to keep his punches above the belt line.

Martin was warned for low blows twice in the eighth round and the referee gave Rojo time to recover, but Martin was not deducted a point. Martin connected with some good right hooks this round, but this round, like the others before it, could have been scored either way.

Martin was finally deducted a point in the ninth round for landing another low blow, but he was able to land some good combinations to the head of Rojo.

The final round was similar to the rounds previous, with Rojo pressing the action coming forward and both boxers throwing and landing, with Martin appeared to land the cleaner punches but Rojo throwing slightly more.

The judges scored it 98-91 Rojo, 96-93 Martin, and 95-94 for Martin. The crowd loudly boos the decision of the judges.

The next bout of the night started almost immediately afterwards and was between Randy Caballero (24-0) and Diego De La Hoya (19-0) for the NABF and NABO Super Bantamweight Titles.

Caballero is another boxer that has not been very active in the past two years. De La Hoya was able to land good hooks to the body in the opening round but was reaching for his punches a bit. Both boxers were a little sloppy in the opening two rounds and clash of heads occurred in both the first and second round.

De La Hoya was landing the cleaner shots in the third and fourth rounds, though Caballero was able to knock De La Hoya off balance a little bit with a right hand to the chin in the fourth.

Caballero had a small shiner underneath his left eye in the fifth round and took a hard combination that forced him to retreat into the ropes a little dazed. De La Hoya continued to land good combinations in the sixth round and even pushed Caballero to the mat.
De La Hoya had a good showing in the seventh round and was able to tie up Caballero whenever he got in close.

Caballero needed a knockout in the final two rounds to win the fight, but that knockout never came and he didn’t press the pace enough to ever come close.

Diego De La Hoya wins by decision with scores of 100-90, 98-92, and 98-92.

The final bout of the undercard was between Joseph Diaz Jr. (24-0) and Rafael Rivera (25-0-2) in a WBC Featherweight Title Eliminator.
Rivera was training for another fight when he got the call to face Diaz at the last minute.

Diaz came out aggressive in the opening two rounds but Rivera was more than willing to fire back with shots of his own. Both boxers appeared to be evenly matched early on.

Diaz was pressing the pace more by the fourth-round while Rivera was looking for his counter shots, but Diaz was the more accurate puncher.

Diaz’s accuracy carried the way in the middle rounds with the exception of the seventh, in which Rivera was able to land several hard shots on Diaz during their exchanges.

Diaz focused on the body in the eighth and ninth rounds and looked like the fresher fighter. He had a dominating tenth round and landed several hard-straight left hands on Rivera.

Even though Diaz didn’t score any knockdowns, he looked like the fresher fighter and was boxing better as the fight progressed. The championship rounds were rounds that he clearly won.

The final scores were 119-109, 119-109, and 120-108 for Joseph Diaz.

Untelevised Undercard Quick Results:

Marlen Esparza (3-0) defeated Aracely Palacios (8-8) by scores of 60-54 on all three scorecards in the Flyweight division.

Vergil Ortiz (7-0) defeated Cesar Valenzuela (7-2) by TKO at of the 1:22 of the second round.

Serhil Bohachuk (5-0) defeated Joan Valenzuela (5-9-1) by TKO at 1:58 of the second round in the super welterweight division.

Posted on 09/17/2016

HBO PPV Undercard Results: De La Hoya and Diaz Win Easily,
By: William Holmes

Golden Boy Promotions and HBO put on a four fight pay per view card tonight live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Diego De La Hoya (15-0) , the nephew of Oscar De La Hoya, opened up the card in the division against Luis Orlando Del Valle (22-2) in the super bantamweight division. This bout was for the WBC Youth Super Bantamweight Championship.

De La Hoya was seven years younger than Del Valle and was taking a big step up in competition. De La Hoya was looking for his straight right counter early in the first round but was able to find range with his jab. Del Valle was knocked stumbling backwards into the corner in the middle of the round from a three punch combination, and the few punches he landed didn’t phase De La Hoya.

The second and third rounds were similar in that Del Valle would start off strong and De La Hoya would finish the roung strong. Del Valle showed he was willing to exchange with De La Hoya and held his own during their exchanges, but by the end of the third round it was De La Hoya who was winning the exchanges more frequently.

De La Hoya was tagged early in the fourth round with a sharp right cross, but he fired back with digging body shots. De La Hoya remained the aggressor for the remainder of the fourth and looked like he hurt Del Valle several times. De La Hoya also had control during the fifth round and was able to pop shot Del Valle at a safe range.

Del Valle was hit hard with a straight right counter in the first minute of the sixth round, and he remained tentative for the remainder. By the seventh round Del Valle’s right eye was showing signs of swelling. De La Hoya punished Del Valle to the body and to the head and was physically imposing his will.

Neither boxer stepped on the gas pedal in the eighth and ninth rounds, but De La Hoya was in clear control and landed the higher number of punches.

Del Valle needed a knockout in the final round to win the bout, but that knockout never came.

Diego De La Hoya remained undefeated with decision victory with scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 99-91.

Joseph Diaz Jr. (21-0) and Andrew Cancio (17-3-2) was the next bout of the night in the featherweight division.

Joseph Diaz was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic team and was four years younger than Cancio.

Diaz, a southpaw, stuck to the body in the opening two rounds and was looked very comfortable in the ring. He was able to avoid the punches of Cancio with solid upper body movement and kept his head an elusive target.

Cancio was able to get within striking range in the third round, but took a pounding from Diaz when he got in tight and got his nose busted in the process. Cancio was unable to handle the hand speed of Diaz.

Cancio was able to briefly trap Diaz in the corner in the opening minute of the fourth round and landed some solid body shots, but Diaz took control in the final two minutes and had the head of Cancio snapping backwards from several crisp punches.

Diaz really turned up the pressure in the fifth round and pounded Cancio throughout with combinations at will. Cancio looked outclassed and bewildered, and was simply out of his league.

Diaz’s dominance inside the ring wasn’t impressing the crowd as a wave broke out at the stadium in the sixth round, but at this point it was even clear to the regular fans in attendance that Cancio stood no shot.

Cancio corner was thinking about stopping the fight before the start of the seventh round but they sent him back into the ring. But this round was no different from the previous rounds and he was a punching bag for the talented Diaz.

Diaz’s offensive output dipped in the eighth round, but he still landed at a higher clip and the harder punches. Cancio’s corner repeatedly asked him if he wanted them to stop the fight, but Cancio refused and went back out for the ninth round. Hwoever, in the middle of the round Cancio’s corner wisely decided to stop the fight.

Joseph Diaz impressed with a TKO victory at 2:27 of the ninth round.

Gabriel Rosado (23-9) and Willie Monroe Jr. (20-2) met in the final bout of the televised undercard in the middleweight division.

Rosado looked like the taller fighter, but he was standing straight up while Monroe was boxing with his knees slightly bent. Monroe was able to stay out of Rosado’s range for most of the first round and boxed Rosado effectively by landing the higher number of punches, but none of them could be considered power shots.

Neither Monroe nor Rosado took many risks in the second or third round, but Monroe was landing more punches than Rosado and fought very defensively. The fans started to boo and whistle the lack of action in the third round.

The wave started again in the fourth round, and Monroe continued to safely outbox Rosado. Rosado complained to the referee in the fifth round from an apparent backhand landed by Monroe, but offered little offense after the complaint.

Monroe was sharp in the sixth round and landed several straight left crosses and quick counter jabs. Monroe was able to continue to stay out of the range of Rosado in the seventh round as Rosado was mainly landing at air when he threw punches, but he was pressing the pace and that could have factored in his favor in the eyes of the judges.

Rosado was able to land a few flurries at the end of the eighth round and may have stolen it. It was his most effective offensive output at this stage of the bout.

A cut opened up near the back of the head of Rosado in the ninth round and the referee briefly stopped it to get it attended to, but afterwards both boxers finally threw power shots and both landed heavy shots. Rosado may have scored a knockdown at the end of the round, but the referee ruled it a slip.

Rosado was pressing forward more in the tenth round, but he was not able to land any punches of note while Monroe side stepped him and pop shotted him from the outside.

Rosado needed at least a knockdown in the final two rounds in order to win the bout,but a headbutt in the eleventh round badly swelled and cut the left eye of Rosado and made it much more difficult. Rosado ended the fight better than he started, but it was too little too late.

The judges scored the bout 116-112, 118-110, 117-111 for Willie Monroe Jr.