Darius “DFG” Fulghum handed Diego Pacheco his first professional loss by unanimous decision Saturday at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Two judges scored the 12-round main event 115–112, and the third had it 114–113 for Fulghum. On the same Matchroom Boxing card, Anthony Olascuaga retained his WBO flyweight title with a unanimous decision over Yuberjen Martinez.

Darius Fulghum vs. Diego Pacheco

Fulghum (16–1–1, 13 KOs), the WBA’s No. 4 contender from Houston, took the WBC Silver and WBO International super middleweight titles from Pacheco (26–1, 19 KOs) in a bout that also served as a WBA final eliminator.

Fulghum opened a cut under Pacheco’s right eye with a left hand midway through the third. His left hand gave Pacheco trouble throughout the first four rounds. Pacheco did better in the fifth until Fulghum caught him on the chin with a right in the final minute. They traded clean right hands midway through the sixth, by which time Pacheco also had swelling around his left eye.

Referee Ray Corona deducted a point from Fulghum in the ninth for hitting behind the head. Fulghum drew blood from Pacheco’s nose with a right hand late in the round. He outworked Pacheco in the 11th and rocked him with a right to the chin midway through the 12th.

Anthony Olascuaga vs. Yuberjen Martinez

Anthony “La Princesa” Olascuaga (13–1, 9 KOs) retained his WBO flyweight title by unanimous decision over Colombia’s Yuberjen Martinez (7–1, 7 KOs), a two-time Olympian and 2016 silver medalist. The judges scored it 115–112 twice and 114–113.

Martinez landed several punches with Olascuaga against the ropes in the second before the champion hurt him with a counter. Olascuaga caught him with a counter right early in the third, but Martinez rallied over the third and fourth and shook the champion twice with uppercuts in the sixth.

Olascuaga hurt Martinez with a body shot in the seventh and went back downstairs with a combination in the eighth. The two traded in the tenth, when Olascuaga went down after their feet caught. Referee Thomas Taylor ruled it a slip. With the fight still close in the final round, Olascuaga dropped Martinez with a short right to the chin in the closing seconds.

Undercard Results

Charlie Sheehy def. Jose Matias Romero, 10 rounds. Sheehy (14–0, 8 KOs) won the WBA Continental North American lightweight title by decision over Romero (31–5–1, 11 KOs). Sheehy rocked Romero with a right in the second, trapped him on the ropes with a flurry in the eighth, and buckled his knees with a right uppercut late in the ninth. Romero was still returning right hands in the tenth. Gerard White was the referee.

David Adeleye def. Alexander Flores, UD 10. Adeleye (15–2, 13 KOs) won the WBA International heavyweight title by scores of 100–89 on all three cards. He dropped Flores (21–7–1, 13 KOs) with a jab midway through the third. Adeleye controlled the middle rounds and repeatedly used his forearm against Flores at close range. Flores landed a right hand in the final exchange. Ray Corona was the referee.

Zaquin Moses def. Manuel Lerma, TKO 4. The southpaw Moses (9–0, 5 KOs) controlled the first three rounds of the scheduled eight-round super featherweight bout. Lerma’s corner called a halt between rounds, and referee Thomas Taylor stopped it at 0:01 of the fourth. Lerma fell to 5–4–1.

Nishant Dev def. Sona Akale, KO 3. Dev (8–0, 6 KOs) dropped Akale (10–6, 5 KOs) with a right hand in the third round of their scheduled eight-round junior middleweight bout. Referee Robert Hoyle counted Akale out at 2:52.

Federico Pacheco Jr. def. Jack May, KO 5. Pacheco (12–0, 9 KOs) dropped May (11–2, 8 KOs) in the fourth and again in the fifth of their scheduled eight-round heavyweight fight. Referee Thomas Taylor waved it off at 2:59 of the fifth.

Frank Espinoza def. Abisai Torres Diaz, TKO 2. Espinoza (6–0, 6 KOs) dropped Torres Diaz (5–3–2, 1 KO) with a right to the chin in their scheduled six-round middleweight bout. Referee Gerard White stopped it at 0:50 of the second.

David Diamante was the ring announcer.

Darius Fulghum handed Diego Pacheco his first professional loss by taking away the space the taller man needed to box. Fulghum walked Pacheco down behind his jab and landed the cleaner punches inside to win a 12-round unanimous decision at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Two judges scored it 115–112, and the third had it 114–113 for Fulghum, who improved to 16–1–1. Pacheco fell to 26–1. Fulghum won the WBC Silver and WBO International super middleweight titles in a bout that also served as a WBA final eliminator.

Fulghum’s Jab Keeps Pacheco Backing Up

Pacheco landed a clean right hand and a body shot in a close second round, but Fulghum was already making him work at a distance he didn’t want. Fulghum pressed inside and landed left hands to the body and head as Pacheco tried to tie him up. In the third, a stiff Fulghum jab opened a cut below Pacheco’s right eye.

Fulghum kept Pacheco from getting set in the fourth, using feints and changing angles to get his jab through. He followed with one of his best rounds in the fifth, catching punches on his gloves and coming back with right hands that landed flush on Pacheco’s chin. Pacheco could still get through with his right hand, but he spent too much time backing up to build on those shots.

Pacheco had a better finish to the sixth, forcing Fulghum back after spending much of the round giving ground. That spell was brief. Fulghum was back on the front foot in the seventh, finding Pacheco’s swelling left eye with the jab. By the eighth, Fulghum was again staying close enough to keep Pacheco from extending his punches.
Fulghum Finishes Strong After Deduction
The closest the fight came to turning late was in the ninth. Referee Ray Corona deducted a point from Fulghum for punches to the back of the head, a call some observers questioned because Pacheco was dipping as the punches came in. Pacheco picked up his pace and won the round on the Boxing News 24 card, making it a 10–8 round and cutting Fulghum’s lead to two points.

Fulghum took the initiative back in the tenth. Pacheco’s face was swollen and his mouth was bleeding as Fulghum backed him up and landed cleanly. The same pattern held through the final two rounds. Pacheco never put together the sustained rally he needed, and the fight went the distance without a knockdown.

Boxing News 24 scored it 116–111 for Fulghum. The point deduction made the official result especially tight on the 114–113 card, but Fulghum gave the judges three strong rounds after it. Whenever Pacheco found a little room to punch, Fulghum went back to his jab and made him give it up again.

Listening to Deontay Wilder talk about his upcoming fight, you would almost think it was still 2019, and he was an unbeaten heavyweight champion warning a smaller man away from danger. Instead, the 41-year-old is acting as if Jai Opetaia made a mistake skipping a tune-up bout before their December 11 meeting on the Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua undercard in Cardiff.

When Shelly Finkel called with the terms for the ten-round heavyweight bout on Netflix, Wilder accepted quickly despite having other options. Speaking on Playbook Boxing, Wilder suggested Zuffa Boxing pushed the unbeaten cruiserweight into the deep end faster than his own camp wanted. “I’m sure that if it was up to him personally and his team, they would have went somewhere else,” said Wilder.

What makes that claim hard to take seriously is how little Wilder knew about his opponent before signing, admitting he had never heard of Opetaia and only recently watched a few highlights. Even after seeing the tape, Wilder questioned whether Opetaia’s power will carry up in weight, arguing that punches feel different in the heavyweight division.

That argument ignores where both fighters actually stand in late 2026. Since his second fight with Fury, Wilder has gone 3-4 across seven outings, suffering knockout losses to Fury and Zhilei Zhang alongside a shutout decision defeat to Joseph Parker. His only victories in the last four years came against Robert Helenius, journeyman Tyrrell Herndon, and a 42-year-old Derek Chisora, whom Wilder barely scraped past by split decision in April.

At 31, Opetaia enters at 31-0 in his physical prime, fresh off stopping former cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian in nine rounds in September. Facing a faded version of Wilder, whose reflexes and trigger finger have visibly slowed, gives the Australian southpaw a high-profile heavyweight debut without the risk of facing an active, elite big man. If Opetaia uses his footwork to keep Wilder turning and forces him to reset his back leg, clean openings for that right hand will be hard to find.

A warm-up against a fringe heavyweight might have let Opetaia test the extra weight, though it would have wasted valuable time when a recognizable name like Wilder was available on a massive stage. Wilder still talks like a fighter people need to be protected from, yet Opetaia is stepping into the ring against a former champion who no longer resembles the puncher he used to be. “Let’s steal the show, bro,” said Wilder.

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