Pacheco (22-0, 18 KO) is getting closer to a world title as a challenger to the WBO world title. The Los Angeles star will headline his sixth straight appearance and second appearance in Las Vegas, where he defeated Shawn McCalman on points in April before returning to his home stadium in August to record his 18th victory at the distance in a nauseating KO victory over Maciej Sulecki via body shot – performances that further strengthened his position as one of the hottest talents in the game, as confirmed by ESPN’s ranking of Pacheco in 2nd place on the list of the best players in the category 25, second only to star player and stablemate Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.

Nelson (20-0, 16 KO) was gearing up for a huge fight and now he has a chance to thwart Pacheco’s rise to the top and take the great position his adolescent opponent has achieved. The 36-year-old last got a taste of action in August in Los Angeles, defeating Marcos Rodriguez via fifth-round stoppage thanks to a victory over his good friend and fellow Omaha fighter, Terence Crawford.

“I am very excited to return to the ring in early 2025 against another undefeated opponent – ​​the DP show goes on,” Pacheco said.

“This is the type of fight I wanted, so I could show the world who I am,” Nelson said.

Diego Pacheco will defend his WBO International super middleweight title against Steven Nelson at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Saturday, January 25, live worldwide on DAZN – and Cuban Olympic star Andy Cruz will face Omar Salcido and Ernesto Mercado will face Jose Pedraza in his Matchroom debut.

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk were separated after a long, intense staredown that turned into a heated exchange during a recent press conference.

Both fighters stared into each other’s eyes for more than 10 minutes, exchanging insults in a heated atmosphere ahead of this weekend’s long-awaited rematch.

Fury, 36, refused to step down, and Usyk, 37, firmly came to a bizarre conclusion about the pair’s relatively tranquil recent media appearance.

The press conference began with Usyk arriving with a live band and a vast group of vocalists, after which both players gave brief answers to questions.

Fury, however, took a more grave tone, stating: “I’m going to cause a lot of pain, definitely put that motherfucker in the injured locker. “I have nothing to say except it will be very hurtful and painful. The conversation was over.

“The first fight I talked about, I was joking. Throughout my entire career. This time I’m grave and I’m going to do some damage.”

Tensions rose as the pair faced each other at the end of the event, with the room filled with cameras and spectators jostling for a good vantage point. Looking down for a long time gave everyone ample opportunity to capture the moment.

The situation escalated when Fury began hurling insults at the WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight champion. Usyk retaliated, which seemed to enrage Fury even more, causing him to break out in a sweat as his team tried to drag him away from the scene.

When Usyk finally left the stage, he walked up a nearby staircase, pumping his fist in appreciation of the audience as some of his band members chanted his name.

Roberto Ramirez Jnr has been appointed referee for the highly anticipated rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, and his past has been controversial.

The two heavyweight titans will clash again next weekend, with the “Gypsy King” looking to settle the score following his first professional loss to the Ukrainian in May in Riyad, Saudi Arabia.

However, main center Ramirez Jnr, who will be overseeing the fight, has been embroiled in controversy before. Last year he officiated Chantelle Cameron’s high-profile rematch with Katie Taylor, in which Cameron became the first to defeat the Irish star before losing in the next fight. After the match, Cameron’s coach Jamie Moore criticized Ramirez Jnr, blaming him for Cameron’s defeat.

“She’s clearly devastated, you can imagine,” Moore revealed to BBC 5 Live Boxing. “She just feels like this whole scenario was set up for her to lose. In a way, we were determined to prove everyone wrong, just like we did last time. But last time she got away with it. I’m not saying, “First of all, I just want to say that from what I watched, it was a close fight that could have gone either way.”

“We were denied a knockdown in the first round, which should have happened. The knockdown is 100% justified. Before the fight, I was begging the referee in the locker room, please, she got away with it last time, holding tight. My athlete’s best work is close. Please don’t let her hold you like last time. And he let her do worse this time than last time. After securing victory, brawler Bray became the undisputed world champion in two weight classes.

Cameron herself later expressed doubts about the referee’s choice for their rematch with Taylor, speaking to BBC Radio Northampton: ‘It wasn’t just me and Katie in that ring. If that were the case, I would have accepted defeat and said I had won the better women that night. I had everything against me. The referee that night… it was such a high level fight, why would you hire a referee no one had heard of. It’s not my job, it’s my job, it’s my job to fight, don’t look at who’s refereeing, I’m just frustrated – if I could go back, I’d make sure everything was taken into account.