Diego Pacheco successfully defended his WBC Silver and WBO International super middleweight titles on Saturday night, stopping veteran Immanuwel Aleem in the 11th round of the main event at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Pacheco controlled the fight from the opening bell, using his jab and body attack to dictate the pace while gradually wearing Aleem down. After building a comfortable lead through the middle rounds, the unbeaten contender finally broke through in the 11th, trapping Aleem against the ropes and unloading a barrage of punches that forced referee Ray Corona to stop the contest.
The victory improves Pacheco to 26-0 (19 KOs), while Aleem falls to 22-5-3 (14 KOs).
Watch Pacheco vs. Aleem highlights: Watch
The co-main event saw Albert Gonzalez continue his unbeaten run with a second-round stoppage of Aaron Alameda. Gonzalez dropped the veteran before Alameda was counted out at 1:53 of Round 2, improving to 18-0 (11 KOs).
Former Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz bounced back from the first defeat of his professional career by stopping Abraham Montoya in the third round. After scoring a knockdown late in the second, Cruz overwhelmed Montoya with a combination early in Round 3, forcing the referee to halt the fight at 0:54.
Elsewhere on the card, Bruno Rios Jr. upset Saul Sanchez by unanimous decision over 10 rounds, while unbeaten heavyweight prospect Leo Atang improved to 8-0 (7 KOs) with a second-round stoppage of Glen Williams after forcing a standing eight-count before the referee intervened.
Also remaining unbeaten were Frank Espinoza, who stopped Luis Caraballo Ramos after three rounds, Samuel Contreras, who outpointed Jorge Ayala over six rounds, and heavyweight Federico Pacheco Jr., who closed the show with a second-round knockout of Nick Jones.
Image Credit: Matchroom Boxing