Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images
Diego Pacheco celebrates a recent win.
- An 18-year-old from California scored one of the knockouts of the weekend when he finished his opponent in 98 seconds with a wicked right hand.
- The teenager, Diego Pacheco, has fought all eight of his professional fights in the last 12 months.
- He has already competed in iconic arenas like Madison Square Garden in New York, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and now the purpose-built Diriyah Arena in Saudi Arabia.
- Pacheco has been called a prospect with a high-ceiling by an ESPN boxing writer.
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Diego Pacheco, 18, scored one of the knockouts of the weekend when he finished his opponent after 98 seconds of a super middleweight fight on Saturday.
Pacheco and Selemani Saidi were scheduled to battle for four rounds in the final bout before the main event of the "Clash on the Dunes" show in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, in which Anthony Joshua found redemption when he out-pointed Andy Ruiz Jr. in their $100 million rematch.
Unfazed by the occasion, Pacheco made quick work of Saidi, ending the fight with a brutal right hand midway through the first round.
Watch Pacheco poleaxe Saidi right here:
The teenager, who has fought all eight of his professional fights to date in the last 12 months, won praise from ESPN's boxing writer Steve Kim, who said the California-native was a "high-ceiling prospect."
It is not the first big boxing event he's been a part of as he competed on the June 1 undercard at Madison Square Garden in New York, where Joshua suffered the first loss of his career, and recently fought at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in a show headlined by YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI.
Pacheco promises to be one to continue watching in 2020.
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DIEGO PACHECO. BOOM. 💥#RuizJoshua2 pic.twitter.com/cYw93AogMO
- DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) December 7, 2019