Highlights: Diego Pacheco earns wide decision over Steven Nelson, Andy Cruz and Tito Mercado win on undercard

Diego Pacheco starts 2025 off with an impressive unanimous decision against Steven Nelson

Steven Nelson and his very good friend Terence Crawford insisted Nelson would score the upset and emerge victorious tonight after tonight’s DAZN main event in Las Vegas. But, in the end it was Diego Pacheco with his hand raised by wide unanimous decision.

Pacheco (23-0, 18 KO) dropped some early rounds, partly due to his standard cautious start and partly from Nelson showing up to win rather than survive. Nelson (20-1, 16 KO) was forcing his pace and distance more often than not until he suffered a cut on the left eyebrow in the 4th from a sharp Pacheco right hand.

That was the turning point, and Nelson admitted afterwards that the 5th round was when the flow of blood started turning his vision yellow, preventing him from moving forward the way he did in his best moments. Nelson tried to press through it anyway in the 7th, and Pacheco made him pay with a series of beautiful counters high and low throughout the round.

Pacheco just kept hurting him from there, staggering Nelson badly midway through the 10th. But, a tenacious Nelson never gave up, making an argument for a rough and tumble 11th round, then pressing with everything he had left in the 12th. All three judges saw it 117-111, the same score BLH had unofficially.

Afterwards, Pacheco said it wasn’t his best performance, but gave great respect Nelson’s chin and resilience. Eddie Hearn mentioned Caleb Plant and Jaime Munguia as possibilities while Pacheco waits for his turn to press the WBO mandatory position against Canelo Alvarez.

Andy Cruz UD-10 Omar Salcido

A clear, if not thrilling win for Andy Cruz (5-0, 2 KO), who proved willing to mix things up with Omar Salcido. Salcido (19-2, 14 KO) looked relatively slow and simple through the first four rounds before landing a big left hand late in the 5th. Salcido carried the momentum over into a much busier 6th, as Cruz inexplicably chose to plant and trade more in those middle rounds instead of reverting to the movement that had served him so well in the early going.

Cruz took control again in the 8th, and looked like he might have Salcido on the verge of a knockout in the final 20 seconds of the fight, but Salcido held on like a veteran and made it to the cards. Judges saw it unanimously for Cruz on scores of 99-91, 98-92, and 98-92. Salcido likely raises his stock even in defeat, showing again in his fourth US fight that he’s tough and aggressive, but limited enough to make a marketable matchup for any number of lightweights.

Tito Mercado TKO-4 Jose Pedraza

Total start-to-early-finish domination from Tito Mercado in his first fight under the Matchroom banner, as he outlanded Jose Pedraza by a nine-to-one ratio through the first three rounds before finishing the show early in the 4th.

It’s a notable scalp, even considering Pedraza (29-7-1, 14 KO) hasn’t won a fight since June of 2021, going 0-3-1 since then. Pedraza was moving well, but barely threw any punches. His reluctance to throw allowed Mercado (17-0, 16 KO) to throw everything hard enough that even the blocked punches made a thumping impact.

After the finish, Mercado repeatedly taunted Shakur Stevenson, who was watching from ringside, promising to “widen the gap in his teeth.” He said he’d fight Richardson Hitchins next instead if Shakur wasn’t willing to face him.

Leonardo Rubalcava MD-10 Israel Mercado

Leonardo Rubalcava escapes with a very fortunate majority draw thanks to an instant replay knockdown and a late point deduction against Israel Mercado.

Mercado (11-1-2, 7 KO) was relentless right out of the gate, looking vicious until a sweet Rubalcava counter sent him to the canvas in what was officially determined a knockdown between rounds.

Rubalcava (9-0-1, 3 KO) had no answer for Mercado’s inexhaustible engine, prompting his furious corner to tell him “I don’t even know how the f— he’s looking so good against you. You’re not doin’ S–T! At least f—in’ try, bro!” between the 5th and 6th round, and yelling: “You’re getting your ass kicked!” before the start of the final round.

Ultimately, a point deduction against Mercado late in the 7th for low blows made the difference, swinging what would have been a unanimous decision to a majority draw instead. Official scores were 75-75, 75-75, with the final card going 76-74 Mercado’s way.