Diego Pacheco, Joe Cordina, Tito Mercado, and Skye Nicolson Triumph in Stockton

Diego Pacheco survived a knockdown and out-battled mauling Kevin Sadjo to remain undefeated in their super middleweight showdown on Saturday.

“He was a warrior,” said Pacheco of his French-Cameroonian opponent.

South Central L.A.’s Pacheco (25-0, 18 KOs) traveled to Stockton, Calif. to match blows and skills with Sadjo (26-1, 23 KOs) at the Stockton Arena. He was also defending his regional super middleweight titles to keep his place in line for world title opportunities.

Pacheco had an eight-inch height advantage and tried to use it by keeping the fight at the end of his left jab. It worked for several rounds then Sadjo went to work with a head-first, crash car mentality that smothered Pacheco’s punches.

The fight was on.

Sadjo winged punches from all angles hoping to connect with one. He walked in knowing he needed to punch his way to victory with a knockout, not a decision.

Pacheco tried to find openings for his own big blows but found it difficult to keep enough space to punch freely. Sadjo used his mauling style to score but could not manufacture enough to score heavily.

In the eighth round, both fighters opened-up after being separated during a clinch and Sadjo connected with a left hook and down went Pacheco.

“He kind of caught me. I was off-balance but I was good to go,” said Pacheco about being knocked down.

Adjustments were made by Pacheco and he seemed to find more success when targeting the body of the shorter Sadjo who proved very sturdy despite being hurt several times in the last three rounds.

“I’m a guy who usually wins the rounds pretty clearly. I made sure I picked it up and got the win,” said Pacheco. “He is a great fighter and a great warrior.”

After nearly dropping Sadjo the fighter clinched heavily until the final bell. After 12 rounds all three judges scored in favor of Pacheco 117-110, 116-111, 115-112.

The win keeps Pacheco near the top of the super middleweight contenders.

Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing said Pacheco could be matched with Jaime Munguia or one of the Charlo brothers.

“Whatever comes my way, I’m ready to handle it,” Pacheco said.

Other Bouts

A battle between former world champions saw Skye Nicolson (15-1) use her stick-and-move style to defeat Yuliahn Luna (28-5-1) by unanimous decision after 10 rounds.

Mexican fighters, whether they are men or women, do not do well against stick-and-move styles because they don’t see that as real fighting. Nicolson only uses that style and it works against Mexican fighters.

Nicolson used a check right hook that is not really a punch, but a touch. She doesn’t use the knuckles of her right hand but the inside of the gloves to touch the other fighter and has no power behind it. Judges cannot tell the difference but an opponent, if they  know it is coming, can take advantage.

Luna never understood that and was clueless how to defend or remedy it.

Nicolson does have a lightning left cross and if it lands flush can do damage. She found Luna a little too experienced to connect with it often. But the Aussie southpaw did connect enough with it and you could see the look of surprise by Luna when it happened.

Luna landed too with her right counters but often had her left leg in the inside of Nicolson’s right leg so could not take advantage with flush counters. The Mexican fighter also showed a strong left jab that caught Nicolson by surprise a few times but not enough to throw off her timing.

After 10 rounds two judges scored it 98-92 twice and 97-93 and Nicolson now holds the interim WBC super bantam title. She could be fighting the actual champion Ellie Scotney early next year.

Nicolson finally felt like a champion again.

“It’s been a big year. It didn’t start the way I planned,” said Nicolson who lost the WBC featherweight world title to Tiara Brown seven months ago. “I’m very grateful to Yuliahn Luna. I wanted to be in a very good fight. I’m very happy with my performance.”

Mercado Wins

Pomona’s Tito Mercado shook off the rust and knocked out gatekeeper Antonio Moran with an impressive display of speed, power and technique. He dazzled.

Mercado struck quickly with a short overhand right that disconnected Moran’s equilibrium and down he went in the opening round. Moran got up and survived.

“Just countering him from the outside. I was going to catch him with a big shot and I did,” said Mercado about his game plan.

Mexico’s Moran fought more cautiously than usual after that knockdown. It was a wise decision but Mercado’s lighting reflexes and technique allowed him to hammer away and keep the fight in his favor.

Mercado, whose family hails from Nicaragua, kept the pressure on and kept belting various targets on the tough Mexican fighter. It allowed Mercado to shake off the rust from being inactive for almost a year.

If he was rusty, it didn’t really show. Instead, Mercado put on an electric performance displaying pinpoint accuracy and lightning reflexes. He bounced lightly in and out of range and pouncing on any mistake made by Moran.

The Pomona fighter found an opening during an exchange and unleashed a quick four-punch combination the put Moran on the floor in the sixth round. Then, after the fight resumed, Mercado bounced into action and fired another four-punch combo that ended with a right hand bomb and down went Moran with the referee immediately signaling the fight was over at 2:37 of the sixth round.

“The first round he was done already,” said Mercado who wanted the fight to go longer and it did. “I felt some rust. I needed some rounds.”

Mercado looked sharp despite the layoff and could be headed to a showdown with the winner between Shakur Stevenson and Teofimo Lopez who fight in January.

Cordina Wins

Former super feather champ Joe Cordina moved up a weight division and gutted out a win over Gabe Flores Jr. in his hometown by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.

Cordina, 34, who hails from Wales, accepted the fight against the much younger Flores, 25, and put on intense pressure from the opening round. Though Flores took it well during the first half, he began to wilt in the second half of the 12-round lightweight contest and Cordina gained firm control of the match.

The Welshman fired away with impunity and Flores tried to match him, but Cordina simply walked through the blows and pummeled the Northern California fighter every round. Flores could not regain momentum and all three judges saw Cordina the winner 117-110, 115-112, 114-113.

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Matchroom

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