In the main event, rising super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco overcame a slow start and a late stumble to grab a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Steven Nelson,
I thought Nelson had won three of the first four rounds before Pacheco cut Nelson over the left eye late in round four.
The cut changed the bout's momentum as Pacheco dominated with Nelson's attack slowing with his decreasing vision and Pacheco landing his right without any problems from the Omaha boxer from the Terence Crawford stable.
Pacheco had Nelson in trouble in the tenth round and looked to possibly stop him, but Nelson showed his heart in the final two rounds. He landed several strong punches that affected Pacheco and appeared to bother the unbeaten star in the final round.
My score was a bit closer at 115-113 for Pacheco than all three judges' official scores of 117-111, but Pacheco deserved the nod.
Pacheco will bide his time for a while as he is the top contender for Canelo Alvarez from the WBO and won't wish to gamble that position but he could use some extra time to polish himself a bit for the day he would face Canelo.
Nelson fought well enough to deserve more chances against contenders but at thirty-six needs to be more active if he wishes to reach title contention.
Former Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz continues to impress with a ten-round unanimous decision over Omar Salcido that Cruz controlled and showed a willingness to try to entertain viewers with an aggressiveness that hasn't been seen before.
Cruz boxed very well early but began to take chances in the middle rounds which opened himself up to take some shots from Salcido, who never stopped coming forward despite taking punishment.
Cruz tried to end the fight with a stoppage, pressing the attack and hurting Salcido in both the eighth and tenth rounds but Salcido showed resilience in lasting the ten-round distance.
Cruz appears ready for the next level of opposition, the top ten level, and will be a tough out for anyone in a talented lightweight division.
Salcido showed toughness and he'll have other chances after a determined outing.
I scored Cruz a winner at 99-91, which agreed with one judge, the other two scores were 98-92.
Due to an error of mine, I didn't add a third bout to the boxing challenge and missed the star of the night as junior welterweight Ernesto "Tito" Mercado crushed former two-time champion Jose Pedraza in four brutal rounds,
Mercado kept Pedraza in retreat throughout and one right hand popped Pedraza to the floor.
Pedraza rose but the referee saw his failing legs and correctly waved an end to the fight.
Mercado scored his sixteenth knockout in his seventeen wins and showed personality after the fight as he called out WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, who was in the audience, with pro wrestling style panache' threatening to "straighten the cap between Stevenson's teeth".
Mercado is a fighter to watch in 2025.
As for Pedraza, the aging veteran is 0-3-1 in his last four fights and didn't show much other than guts in losing to Mercado and retirement should be an option at this point.
Boxing Challenge
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