Diego Pacheco is a realist.

As much as the ascending super middleweight contender wants a life-changing chance to challenge Canelo Alvarez, Pacheco recognizes it seems unlikely the Mexican superstar will want to fight him after facing Terence Crawford on Sept. 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

If Alvarez defeats Crawford — no forgone conclusion at this point — Turki Alalshikh has mentioned Brits Hamzah Sheeraz and Chris Eubank Jr. as potential opponents for Alvarez in England.

Sheeraz has to first defeat Edgar Berlanga on July 12 at Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York, while Eubank faces an immediate middleweight rematch with Conor Benn come Sept. 20 at a venue to be determined.

Pacheco (23-0, 18 KOs) is the WBO's No. 1 contender for one of the titles Alvarez owns. The 24-year-old Los Angeles native and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, still suspect Pacheco will fight someone other than Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) for the WBO belt he vacates at some point.

As Alvarez prepares for his Netflix showdown with Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), Pacheco will remain active by fighting Trevor McCumby (28-1, 21 KOs) in a 12-round co-feature DAZN will stream worldwide on the Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez-Phumelala Cafu undercard July 19 from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

"I'm already in a great place in the division," Pacheco told The Ring. "But obviously a win against a great fighter like Trevor McCumby would put me even in a greater place. Obviously Canelo, he's the champion and guy who will make my dreams come true.

"But if we can't get that fight, obviously no one can force Canelo to do anything. So, I'm not gonna stress out about that. I'm just gonna keep doing what I do and obviously there's a lot more big fights to make that don't involve Canelo in the division for me."

Pacheco was offered a fight with another undefeated top super middleweight contender, Christian Mbilli, before he and McCumby came to an agreement. He informed The Ring that he didn't think his proposed purse for that bout was worth traveling to Quebec to fight Montreal's Mbilli for the WBC interim super middleweight title.

Mbilli (29-0, 24 KOs) instead knocked out Polish contender Maciej Sulecki (33-4, 13 KOs) in the first round a week ago to win that belt at Videotron Centre in Quebec City. Mbilli, 30, probably will have even more difficulty securing a fight with Alvarez due to his power and swarming style.

The Ring ranks Mbilli at No. 1 in its top 10 in the super middleweight division, while Pacheco is second.

Pacheco, who is also rated fifth by the WBC, eighth by the WBA and 13th by the IBF, would like to fight Mbilli if the money and site are right. If not, the 6-foot-4 contender thinks there are plenty of viable alternatives to Alvarez and Mbilli in their division.

"Hopefully after getting a great win July 19th, these big names wanna get in there with me," Pacheco said. "Because a lotta guys say that I'm young, haven't proven myself or done much in the sport. It's a high-risk, low-reward fight for them. I've gotten that a lot and it is a little hard when fans are asking for these fights. I'm trying to make them happen, but these guys don't accept.

"But now that I'm getting older, recognized a little bit more, ranked a little higher and recognized as a top contender now. So, I think that'll maybe make guys interested in fighting me a little bit more."