Promoter Eddie Hearn believes both Diego Pacheco and Cheavon Clarke could be just a fight away from defining contests, but they both must win at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson tonight.

Super middleweight contender Pacheco is 21-0 (17 KOs) and up against 32-2 (12 KOs) veteran Maciej Sulecki and Hearn reckons a decisive victory for WBO No. 1 Pacheco over the 35-year-old Pole will have him on the cusp of a potentially life-changing fight.

“Sometimes when you take a kid on that was 17, you kind of forget that it was six years ago,” Hearn said of bringing Pacheco through. “I’m looking at him thinking is he ready? I think there’s a couple of phases… obviously Sulecki, good fight, if Pacheco is what we think he is, he should win and win well. If he destroys him, then the next step for me is Mibilli, Munguia, Bazinyan, those guys. 

“The reality is, the WBO is going to call him as the mandatory against Canelo in the next six to 12 months, he’s already No. 1. And when that opportunity comes, we’ve got to take it because it’s like the lottery ticket. So you’ve just got to try and make sure that he’s ready.

“It’s a bit like the Berlanga stuff,” Hearn added, referring to Edgar Berlanga’s upcoming fight with Canelo Alvarez on September 14. “Probably you’re one fight short with Berlanga of those same names that I just mentioned before you go into a Canelo fight. But at the same time, when you get it, you’ve got to take it. For me, this is the last fight for Pacheco away from what some may argue are the 50-50 ones. And then, if he comes through that, he’s got no choice but to fight Canelo. We’d have to take it, next September, a year on from now. I don’t know what else there is to do.” 

Hearn feels similarly about 9-0 (7 KOs) cruiserweight prospect Clarke, who is ranked by all four sanctioning bodies. The 33-year-old Englishman has stopped Ellis Zorro and Tommy McCarthy this year, and meets 12-2 (12 KOs) dangerman Efetobor Apochi – “The Nigerian Pit Bull” on the same card. 

“Honestly, this is a really tough fight,” Hearn added. “Really tough. This guy’s got two defeats. Watch the fights, they’re split decisions, he never lost the fights, he was just on the road. He beat [Jai] Opetaia in the Commonwealth Games, he’s a serious guy. But, for Chev, subject to being able to get a Billam-Smith or a Riakporhe or an Isaac Chamberlain, which doesn’t really look like it’s gonna be forthcoming, he’s another one. If he wins tomorrow and has one more win, I don’t know what else to do with him other than fight for a world title or if we can’t get one of those big domestic fights, so this is a really good fight for him. Ten rounds. Tough fight. American debut. And I think if he comes through it well, he’s probably one fight away from fighting for a world title as well.”