Frank Sanchez Wants Usyk Next After KO to Become Mandatory Challenger

The new IBF mandatory challenger, Frank 'Cuban Flash' Sanchez, hopes to get his world title shot at Oleksandr Usyk as soon as possible

Oct 9, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Frank Sanchez (white/red trunks) and Efe Ajaba (black/gold trunks) during their NABO/WBC Continental Americas heavyweight championship boxing match at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Frank Sanchez has finally earned himself a mandatory challenger spot in the eyes of the IBF and hopes to action that mandatory challenge with Oleksandr Usyk sooner rather than later, according to his manager Mike Borao.

The Cuban earned his spot with a sensational knockout over American heavyweight hope and Olympic silver medallist Richard Torrez Jr in an eliminator bout on the undercard of Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven in Egypt.

Sanchez had been circling a world title shot for some time before he came up against the current WBC interim world champion, Agit Kabayel, in 2024, where he got stopped inside 12 rounds - derailing his career temporarily.

He had only fought once since losing to Kabayel before knocking out Torrez Jr. His manager claims he had an injury leading up to the Kabayel fight that lingered after.

Frank Sanchez (white/red trunks) and Efe Ajaba (black/gold trunks) during their NABO/WBC Continental Americas heavyweight championship match | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

"Frank sent a strong reminder that he is one of the most dangerous fighters in the division," Borao told Sky Sports. "An injury temporarily slowed his momentum, but he's now back in top form and ready to make the best of his mandatory status.

"I'm currently reviewing options [for Sanchez's next fight] with my partner, Lupe Valencia. As the mandatory challenger, our primary goal is to fight Usyk as soon as possible, but we'll see how that develops over the next few weeks."

Although Usyk is the ideal next target for Sanchez and his team, the way that the cycles of mandatory challengers go within the internal politics of sanctioning bodies, the Cuban is at the bottom of the list as Daniel Dubois, the former IBF champion, fought Usyk for undisputed last summer. Sanchez's management, therefore, is looking for a fight to keep him hungry.

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"In the meantime, if fights against top heavyweights like [Daniel] Dubois, [Deontay] Wilder, [Anthony] Joshua, [Tyson] Fury, Verhoeven, [Francis] Ngannou or others become available, Frank has no problem staying active against elite competition while waiting for his world title shot."

Whether that rather ambitious list of fighters would accept a fight with Sanchez at this point is something different entirely, but it is clear that the 33-year-old is aware that he doesn't have much more time to waste in getting himself in with the elite of the heavyweight division.

It now seems as if Sanchez is thriving under the tutelage of Canelo Alvarez's trainer, Eddie Reynoso and in beating Torrez Jr, allowed Reynoso to exact some revenge over Torrez Jr and Terence Crawford's trainer Brian 'BoMac' McIntyre.