Diego Pacheco remained undefeated with a fifth-round knockout of Enrique Collazo, capping off an entertaining set of undercard fights on the Canelo vs. GGG 3 undercard.
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Pacheco (16-0, 13 KO) and Collazo (16-3-1, 11 KO) probably had the worst of the four fights from an entertainment standpoint, both of them being pretty cautious at first, but the 21-year-old Pacheco he was able to close the show in impressive fashion, dropping Collazo, 33, in the fifth round and then forcing a referee stoppage moments later.
It wasn’t a fight where Pacheco, a 6-foot-4 super middleweight prospect, had any problems, really, other than not doing much with Collazo in the first three rounds in particular. But it’s a solid win for him and he got the job done, without question; it could be argued that referee Celestino Ruiz stopped him a little earlier than necessary, but Collazo was not steady and was also taking shots.
More results and highlights
Marc Castro KO-5 Kevin Montiel: Good effort from Montiel (7-2-2, 3 KO), who had some moments and came to win here, but Castro (8-0, 6 KO) was only better and got him, boy, did he catch it, with a fifth-round uppercut that ended things instantly. Montiel was finally up and around and he was fine. Castro is one of Matchroom’s favorite prospects and it looks like he’s settling in at 135, which was bound to happen because he had repeated trouble getting to 130. The last three fights have been as a lightweight and he’s making good progress. He’s 23 years old, so he’s not a total baby in the game, but he still has a lot of miles to go. You’ll see him on the cards a lot more for a long time before he really steps up, most likely, but in a year or so he could be into something a little more dangerous, and that would be fine. Aaron Aponte D-8 Fernando Molina: A debatable result here, as most draws are, of course. The scores were 76-74 Molina, 76-74 Aponte and 75-75, so it was a split tie. BLH had it 77-73 for Molina, which was perhaps a generous round in his favor, but I have a hard time seeing this even or in favor of Aponte, I think he got the pivot here. But he could be wrong, of course. It has happened before. Aponte (6-0-1, 2 KO) and Aponte (8-0-1, 3 KO) each have a blemish but don’t lose their “0”. It was also a good fight, aggressive matchup on both sides that paid off with a test of the skills and mettle of these guys. Anthony Herrera UD-5 Delvin McKinley: A technical decision here, as the fight was stopped after 19 seconds of the fifth round, due to a clash of heads that hurt McKinley. McKinley (4-4-1, 4 KOs) played through the first two rounds, but the New Orleans native was outpointed in the third and fourth by Herrera (3-0-1, 2 KOs), a 21-year-old. An old man with a good amateur career as part of the US team, he did encounter a draw in his last outing on June 10 in Mexico. He looked better here than in that fight. He may not be a true “blue chipper,” but he is a true prospect with an entertaining style, a swarm of skills, and some pop. He’s looking to settle down at 115 for his pro career to really work.
