LAS VEGAS – Steven Nelson never looked nor felt better before a fight than this week.

Nelson knows more than anyone that he is running out of time to become known as more than a capable, proud teammate of Terence Crawford. He is 36, old for a super middleweight who still hasn’t fought for a world title.

Nelson also hasn’t beaten anyone as talented as Diego Pacheco (22-0, 18 KOs), his opponent Saturday night at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan.

The likeable Nelson (20-0, 16 KOs) appeared as if he would finally start reaching his potential when he stopped the late Cem Kilic in the eighth round of their 10-rounder in January 2020 at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. ESPN televised Nelson’s victory over Germany’s Kilic, who was 14-0 entering that bout on the Joe Smith-Jesse Hart undercard.

Nelson has fought all of four times in the five years since he beat Kilic, only once in nearly 18 months. Yet here he is, presented with an opportunity to knock off a rising Mexican-American contender who has displayed plenty of potential, but just enough vulnerability for the determined Nelson to truly test him.

The self-aware Nelson knows he hasn’t given fickle fight fans enough reasons to believe in him. Fresh off the best training camp of his life, Nelson is also confident that he will change the boxing public’s perception of him in a main event DAZN will stream worldwide.

“I’m definitely ready, man,” Nelson stated during their press conference Thursday at The Cosmopolitan. “You know, everybody’s saying, ‘Yeah, Steve Nelson, he’s a good fighter.’ But, you know, they’ve seen a OK version of me. You know, I’ve never been this focused, worked this hard, been this determined for nothing in my life. And it’s gonna show Saturday – I promise you that.”

Pacheco, who is trained by Jose Benavidez Sr., is six inches taller, 13 years younger and has been much more active than Nelson. Those are among the reasons most sportsbooks list Pacheco as at least a 3-1 favorite.

“Look, let’s weigh this out,” Nelson said. “[He’s] 23, from Cali, Mexican, signed to Matchroom. You know, he take a loss, he can bounce back. I’m 36, from Omaha, Nebraska, been through hell to get here, and I mean hell. And not just in boxing – military, the streets, been shot, been blown up, been through everything. Injuries, all that. I can’t afford to lose. So, if he think I’m coming into this fight just to lay down, I’m not. So, he could make it hard, or it’ll be easy. But I’m not losing. I’m not backing down.”

The slender, strong Pacheco impressively stopped Polish contender Maciej Sulecki (32-3, 12 KOs) with a sixth-round body shot in his last fight. Before his August 31 stoppage win, then-unbeaten American Shawn McCalman (15-1, 9 KOs) pushed Pacheco more than two of the scorecards indicated after that 10-round, unanimous-decision win for Los Angeles’ Pacheco last April 6 at Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

Nelson praised Pacheco on Thursday, yet he spoke passionately about how much this opportunity means to him, his family and everyone he works with in Omaha.

“This is life-changing for me, the people around me, the kids I coach, my family,” Nelson said. “It’s so much behind this. I’m not fighting for Steven Nelson. I’m fighting for a whole community of people, people who didn’t get opportunities, that had the talent in and outside of boxing. I’m speaking for those people, man. Like, it’s hard. It’s hard out here. And we gotta step up and make sh-t happen.”

DAZN’s coverage of the two-fight Pacheco-Nelson undercard is set to start at 5 p.m. PT on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; 1 a.m. GMT on Sunday).