Frustrated fans hammered him for failing again to accept the type of challenge Pacheco repeatedly professed he wants. The Ring’s No. 6 contender in the 168-pound division had already turned down a chance to face Christian Mbilli for the WBC interim belt because Pacheco and his handlers didn’t think he was offered enough money to battle him in the champion’s adopted hometown of Montreal.

Pacheco’s choice surprised Eddie Hearn, but his supportive promoter applauded the Los Angeles native for recognizing that the time wasn’t right for him to face a fighter of Sheeraz’s caliber because he was sorting through training, managerial and additional issues outside the ring. Matchroom Boxing’s chairman isn’t disappointed, either, with Pacheco opposing a huge underdog, Immanuwel Aleem, on Saturday night in a 12-round main event DAZN will stream globally from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Aleem seemingly operates on a level comparable to Pacheco’s past two conquests — Kevin Lele Sadjo and Trevor McCumby. Hearn considers that acceptable because Pacheco (25-0, 18 KOs) has a new trainer, Buddy McGirt, and wasn’t dominant during his unanimous points victories versus Sadjo (30-1, 25 KOs), who sent him to the canvas for the first time in his career in the eighth round, and McCumby (28-2, 21 KOs).

“We don’t really want him to step it up a little bit,” Hearn told The Ring. “If we wanted to step it up a little bit he would’ve fought Hamzah Sheeraz. And I think what Diego did was he made a really mature decision, especially for someone of his age [25]. You know what we’re like. We’re quite aggressive in our matchmaking. We like to roll the dice. And like we built him into a position to fight Hamzah Sheeraz for the world title.

“And I just feel like [the fights against] Sadjo and McCumby, they were great wins but the performances weren’t on the trajectory that you would’ve liked going into a Hamzah Sheeraz fight. And Diego kind of looked at it and said, ‘I’m 24 years old. I’m 25-0. I think in 12 months’ time, with one or two fights under my belt with Buddy McGirt, I know I win that fight. But at the moment I go in hoping I win that fight.’ And once he says that, it’s like you can’t take the fight. You can’t.”

Aleem lost to dangerous Guatemalan Lester Martinez (20-0-1, 16 KOs) by large margins on all three scorecards in his last fight, a 12-rounder match March 21 in San Bernardino, California. Pacheco is a 20-1 favorite, according to DraftKings, which places pressure on him from Hearn’s perspective to handle Aleem (22-4-3, 14 KOs) in a comparable manner.

“If he would’ve knocked out Sadjo or he would’ve looked better against McCumby, I think we would’ve taken the [Sheeraz] fight instantly,” Hearn said. “But it’s quite dangerous now because you’re reversing a little bit from Sheeraz, obviously. You’re kind of staying on the same level [as Sadjo and McCumby] and now the pressure’s on to look good. Otherwise, you’re really losing momentum.

“Plus, you’re going in with a new trainer, right? So, it’s actually quite a lot of pressure. And Aleem’s talking a great game. But one of the reasons we picked him was the Lester Martinez fight. I thought that was a good fight. He’s very tough. I rate Martinez and he couldn’t stop him, and I thought, ‘Yeah, it’s a good yardstick to see where we’re at.’ … I don’t think it’ll be an easy fight. But we need to see how the progression has been since the Sadjo fight, with a new team, and obviously with Buddy McGirt.”

If Pacheco passes this test in fantastic fashion, Hearn hopes to revisit a fight with Sheeraz, who is an overwhelming favorite for the second time in two months July 25 on the Anthony Joshua-Kristian Prenga undercard in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. England’s Sheeraz (23-0-1, 18 KOs), ranked No. 9 by The Ring, will make his first defense of the WBO 168-pound championship against Germany’s Simon Zachenhuber (29-1, 18 KOs) only nine weeks after he knocked out another overmatched German, Alem Begic (29-1-1, 23 KOs), in the second round May 23 in Giza, Egypt.

“Hamzah’s a very good fighter,” Hearn said, “but obviously Pacheco’s a huge step up for Sheeraz, in terms of who he’s fighting at the moment.”

■ Ernesto “Tito” Mercado (19-0, 18 KOs) is one of the most tantalizing talents in boxing, but the junior welterweight knockout artist has had more promoters (three) than fights (two) in the past seven months. Salita Promotions became the latest to join the 24-year-old's team Thursday, when it announced he’ll square off against Ghana’s Emmanuel Tagoe (34-2, 16 KOs) on the Claressa Shields-Kaye Scott undercard August 15 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

■ Why would anyone believe Gervonta Davis is a viable option for Devin Haney’s next fight? Haney, the WBO welterweight champion, can only come down to 144 pounds, nine pounds above the lightweight limit at which Davis prefers to fight. Beyond Davis’ reluctance to box bigger opponents at weights which might favor them (e.g. facing Ryan Garcia at a catch weight of 136 pounds), the Baltimore native hasn’t fought in 16 months and would’ve lost his last fight to Lamont Roach had referee Steve Willis correctly counted a knockdown. And he’s going to fight a taller, heavier, highly skilled champion like Haney in his first fight back?

■ It wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing if reported visa problems prevent Jermall Charlo (34-0, 23 KOs) from traveling to Sydney for a meaningless mismatch against Australia’s Koen Mazoudier (15-4-1, 6 KOs) on the Errol Spence-Tim Tszyu undercard July 26 at Afterpay Arena. Mazoudier, a career-long junior middleweight who has been stopped twice in 154-pound bouts, moved up two weight classes to challenge Charlo.