Super middleweight contenders Christian Mbilli and Diego Pacheco are in negotiations for a battle that will put the winner in a stronger position to force a fight against unified champion Canelo Alvarez.
Forcing the Issue
The Mexican star Canelo has consistently ignored Pacheco (28-0, 23 KOs) and Mbilli (23-0, 18 KOs). Alvarez has chosen to take easier fights against Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia.
Lance Pugmire reports that Mbilli and Pacheco are in talks to put together a fight next. There’s no word yet when, where, and what will be at stake for the fight. Ideally, one of Canelo’s titles will be vacated or stripped from him and made available for the fight.
2016 Olympian Mbilli is ranked #1 WBA, #1 WBC, #2 WBO and #3 IBF. He has recent wins over Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Mark Heffron and Rohan Murdock. Mbilli has looked excellent in those fights. However, it’s difficult to know how good he is because he’s yet to face someone with real talent.
He recently received criticism for not taking a fight against unbeaten Cuban talent Olsleys Iglesias (13-0, 12 KOs), who might be the best contender in the 168-pound division, perhaps even better than Canelo. You can’t blame Mbilli for not fighting Iglesias because that would be a bad matchup for him.
The Matchroom Boxing-promoted Pacheco is ranked #1 WBO, and looks hard to beat. His promoter, Eddie Hearn, hasn’t pushed hard yet for him to challenge Canelo due to his age. The tall 6’4″ Pacheco is only 23, and he is still getting experience that he needs to be ready for the top talents in the division.
Pacheco looked outstanding in his last bout, defeating previously unbeaten Steven Nelson by a 12 round unanimous decision on January 25th.
Hearn must like Pacheco’s chances for him to be negotiating for a fight against Mbilli. The problems that Mbilli had in his recent fight against 39-year-old Derevyanchenko on August 17th last year are likely what is making Hearn feel confident enough to let Diego take this fight.
