Diego Pacheco realizes he’s far from a finished product.

Pacheco (25-0, 18 KOs) got dropped for the first time in his career by Kevin Lele Sadjo on Saturday night and survived some uncomfortable sequences, and yet, still escaped with a unanimous decision victory.

“Sadjo is here for a reason,” Pacheco said after his main event fight in Stockton, California. “He’s a great fighter and a great warrior. I proved that I am built for this and whatever comes my way I will be able to handle it.

“There are a lot of things, to be honest [that I can improve on]. I have to go back and watch the fight and we’ll be back in the gym working to make sure that we clean up some of those little flaws.”

Pacheco was awarded scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 after outlanding Sadjo 128-117. He got off the deck in the eighth round after Sadjo shocked him with a left hook.

“Knockdowns are a part of the sport,” said Pacheco. “It never happened to me before in my life, but I have always mentally prepared for whenever it did happen. I knew it’s a possibility that it could happen one day. He caught me while I was throwing a punch as well, and I was off balance. I wasn’t hurt or anything.”

Pacheco, The Ring’s No. 5 contender at 168 pounds, pulled away afterward to make sure the shocking sequence was an isolated incident.

“I usually win the rounds pretty clearly. I knew the rounds were a little close and that I had to pick it up a little bit, and that’s what I did to make sure we picked up the win,” said Pacheco.

“His head was staying in on my chest and it was making it a little difficult for me to work in there. But I made the adjustments in the rounds with my corner to come out with the win.”

Pacheco finished 2025 with three wins, but the workmanlike unanimous decisions against Sadjo, Steven Nelson and Trevor McCumby raised questions and left many desiring for more from the 24-year-old.

“So many boxes were ticked. He learned so much from this fight,” said Eddied Hearn, Pacheco promoter. “I think he can be better, and he knows that."

Immediately after the fight, Riyadh Season expressed interest in staging a Pacheco fight against Hamzah Sheeraz in February. Pacheco, however, mentioned that a matchup against fellow Mexican Jaime Munguia is the one that entices him the most.

Hearn said he’s open to securing fights against Sheeraz as well as Munguia, Jermall Charlo and many others in the stacked super middleweight division.

“We’re not limited. There are loads of fighters at 168 pounds,” said Hearn. “He’s done all the apprenticeship you need. It’s time to roll the dice in a big fight. He needs that big fight now.”