FRISCO, Texas – It wasn’t pretty, but it was more than enough in the end for Diego Pacheco to preserve his unbeaten mark.
A matchup that promised more action on paper didn’t quite transpire in reality as Pacheco boxed to a 12-round unanimous decision over Trevor McCumby on Saturday from the Ford Center at The Star, the practice facility for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys in Frisco, Texas.
Scores were 120-108, 119-109 and 119-109 for Pacheco in the DAZN-aired co-feature. Pacheco-McCumby served as the chief support to the Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez-Phumelele Cafu WBC/WBO junior bantamweight unification clash.
McCumby worked his jab right from the outset, while Pacheco fought the opening round at a measured pace. The long jab of Pacheco began to find its mark from the midway point onward, which prompted McCumby to make a defensive adjustment. Pacheco kept his distance as the 10-second clapper sounded, with McCumby leaping in with a right hand and a left hook.
Time was called late in the second. A right hand by McCumby found its mark, though simultaneously with a clash of heads, which left him with a cut between his left eye and the bridge of his nose.
Dueling chants in favor of both fighters belted out from opposite sides of the venue in the third. Roars of "Mc-Cum-by" were quickly countered by the Pacheco faithful, though it did little to spark sustained action in the ring. McCumby bounced on his toes and landed a stab jab to the body. Pacheco quickly responded upstairs as blood streamed from McCumby's cut. Both fighters pawed with their jabs before Pacheco landed a second attempt with his. McCumby extended his left but was open for a Pacheco left hook.
McCumby enjoyed his best moment of the fight with a right hand on an unsuspecting Pacheco 1 minute into the fourth. Pacheco shook off the blow but was not in position to immediately respond. Both boxers reached with their lefts before McCumby connected with a substantive jab.
Pacheco inched forward but was forced to back up as McCumby launched a combination. Pacheco connected with a three-punch combination upstairs, but McCumby was able to gather his composure and respond with a right hand before the bell.
Pacheco's jab continued to control the distance and the (lack of) action in the eighth. McCumby's early effectiveness to work his way inside was no longer. As McCumby wildly missed on such attempts in the eighth, Pacheco ended the round with a right hand and a short uppercut, neither of which seemed to faze his opponent – but which were enough to score with the judges.
McCumby threw a purposeful right hand that landed on Pacheco's shoulder – not a scoring blow but at least felt by the unbeaten contender. Pacheco pawed with his jab to set up his right hand, but McCumby wouldn't bite. More boos came in from the crowd; neither fighter really responded. Pacheco jabbed to the body, McCumby responded with a right.
A combination from Pacheco upstairs prompted a brief mental lapse by McCumby, who mistook the 10-second clapper for the bell. Pacheco jumped on him along the ropes but couldn't fully make the moment count.
A dramatic sense of urgency was then noticeable from the McCumby corner, as he was urged to let his hands go in the 11th. McCumby attempted to honor that request but was picked off by Pacheco's quick jab. Pacheco landed a combination, to which McCumby responded with a right hand over the top. McCumby circled the ring in an effort to draw in a forward-moving Pacheco, but he came up short with a left hook inside the final 10 seconds.
Pacheco came out firing his jab to start the 12th and final round.
McCumby bounced on his feet, but before he stopped to double up on his left. Neither punch found the mark, but McCumby more than made up for it with a right hand that caught Pacheco and forced him to clinch. Pacheco waded through McCumby's reaching jab and threaded the needle with a right hand.
Time was called with 21 seconds left for one final examination of McCumby's cut. Action resumed, but McCumby couldn't land anything to erase the scorecard deficit.
Pacheco improved to 24-0 (18 KOs) with the win, his second straight 12-round distance fight of the year. He overcame a stiff challenge from unbeaten Steve Nelson to outpoint the squat Nebraska native earlier this year.
McCumby, 28-2 (23 KOs), has now suffered two straight defeats. He came out far more favorable in a ninth-round knockout defeat to Caleb Plant, whom he was able to drop in the fourth before he ultimately succumbed in their WBA interim title fight.
With the win, Pacheco remains in the hunt for at least some version of a super middleweight title. Matchroom Boxing told BoxingScene that the plan is to petition the WBO, where Pacheco is the No. 1 contender and with hopes of being named the mandatory challenger.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, 63-2-2 (39 KOs), is the reigning undisputed champion and will next face Terence “Bud” Crawford, 41-0 (31 KOs).
