Super middleweight Steven Nelson found solace in his loss to undefeated prospect Diego Pacheco last Saturday at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
Pacheco won a 12-round unanimous decision in what is widely regarded as the toughest test of the 23-year-old’s career to date.
Nelson, from Omaha, Nebraska, spoke of being proud of his performance and asking people to not let a loss define his career. Nelson, 36, was doing well against the 23-year-old Los Angeles native Pacheco until a right hand from Pacheco in the fourth caused blood to flow into his eye for the rest of the fight.
“That was a big reason why my game plan got thrown off,” Nelson said. “It opened up an old cut I had and that changed the whole fight.”
Trained by Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, and a training partner and friend of Terence Crawford, Nelson insists overcoming difficulties is nothing new.
“I didn’t learn anything about myself, because like I said, I had been through hell,” Nelson, 20-1 (16 KOs) said at the post-fight press conference. “I want any of the top guys to call me out.”
McIntyre praised Pacheco after the fight.
“He is a really great fucking fighter,” McIntyre said. “We were trying to make him uncomfortable, push him back on his heels. We did what we could do as a team and we tried our best.”
Nelson hopes that other fighters in the division show a willingness to fight him and compete, urging fans to get away from valuing undefeated records. Nelson said he wants to fight any of the big-name super middleweights in the future.
“I have been avoided for years,” Nelson said. “Let’s make these fights happen. We can’t avoid each other. Let’s make these big fights happen.”
