DAZN Round Up: Diego Pacheco Victorious, Harlem Eubank Defeated

DAZN had two cards yesterday with a daytime event in the UK and a nighttime event on the West Coat in California. The UK card featured Harlem Eubank, the son of British superstar Chris Eubank, in an IBF minor title fight. The night card in the US was headlined by undefeated rising talent Diego Pacheco in his twenty-sixth fight at twenty-five years-old.

David Papot Spoils The Hometown Name Via Unanimous Decision

I caught this fight in the sixth round and saw a bloodied Harlem Eubank swinging wild overhand rights trying to land a fight changing blow. The unofficial score from Carl Frampton came up in the seventh round showing an edge to David Papot. Papot scored a second round on a solo left hand that dropped Eubank to the canvas. Papot controlled the majority of the early rounds and had built a solid lead after five rounds. Eubank dropped Papot with a single left hook and went for the kill against a resilient Papot.

Papot rallied nicely after being hurt to take the eighth and ninth rounds. Eubank sensed the deficit he was in and fought with reckless aggression. Papot does not have a reputation for being a big puncher, five knockouts in thirty-three bouts but he did damage catching Eubank coming in. The fight was very entertaining with both men fighting hard and scoring hard blows. Eubank was trying to line up his overhand right while Papot sat back to land his left down the middle.

The patience for Papot paid off in a decisive tenth round. A left hand rocked Eubank who fell in slow motion to the canvas. Another exchange saw Eubank collapse to the canvas and get counted as a knockdown. I felt this was a crappy call but the additional point to make it a 10-7 round wound up not mattering when the final cards came in. Eubank was in considerable trouble in the round and bravely regained his footing winning the eleventh. He even made a run for it at the end of the round opening up to try and turn the tide. The stage was set for a consequential final round.

Eubank was certainly behind on the cards but had scored a knockdown of his own and had his legs back. Going into the round I felt Eubank was going to walk into a big counter based on his telegraphed swings and pattern of leaving himself open. Eubank pressed the action in the twelfth round and scored well. As the round passed, Eubank walked into a big left hand counter and buckled. He showed great resolve to recover and continue to pound away at Papot who closed on his feet.

All three judges scored the bout to the Frenchman 115-110, 115-109 and 113-111 to a hard earned but deserved decision on the road. The bout was for the IBF International title which is significant for getting ranked and positioned for a title shot. The IBF Welterweight Champion is Liam Paro who defeated Papot in 2025. Papot advanced to 31-1-1 (5) and was not ranked in the IBF top fifteen coming in and should get a spot now. Eubank fell to 22-2 (9) and was in the twelfth spot in the rankings, possibly falls out of the top fifteen. I am certainly interested in tuning in to see Papot again in his quest to move up the ranks and attempt to avenge his lone defeat. Paro certainly will have bigger matters in mind with some of the star power in and around the division.

Diego Pacheco Grinds Down Immanuel Aleem in Eleven

Diego Pacheco is a young contender moving up the ranks at super middleweight. Pacheco is pretty big for the division at six foot four inches tall with a seventy-nine inch reach. He sort of resembles the Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik with his height and broad shoulders. He fights tall behind a jab and throws combinations well. He also gets his punches down to the body effectively which wears his opponents down. He has nineteen knockouts in twenty-six contests but is more of an attrition puncher.

I was not that excited about this fight given it did not have much on paper and after the first round it was difficult to see what chance Aleem had. Aleem entered with a record of 22-4-4 (14) and was not ranked in any of the four sanctioning bodies. Aleem really did not have the punching power to make it interesting or the work rate to push the pace. Pacheco did what he normally does and wore Aleem down and stopped him in the eleventh. The stoppage snapped a three fight decision streak going back to 2024.

Pacheco entered ranked seventh by Ring Magazine and by all four sanctioning bodies including fourth by the WBC and third by the WBO. The division is wide open following Canelo Alvarez losing all four titles to Terrence Crawford who then retired. Alvarez is in a high profile WBC title fight with Christian Mbilli while Hamzah Sheeraz and Jaime Mungia hold titles in the division with names behind them. I think Pacheco matches up nicely in the division though his really has not faced an elite operator or huge puncher just yet. I’d like to see him in a title fight next or against the puncher and Lester Martinez. Some good fights to be made here.