Frank Sanchez faces Richard Torrez Jnr on Saturday in an IBF final eliminator that will send the winner into the role of mandatory challenger for Oleksandr Usyk's IBF belt.
The bout sits on the undercard of Usyk's fight against Rico Verhoeven in Giza, Egypt, and it gives Sanchez a direct route to the champion he is trying to reach. Mike Borao said he expects a strong showing from Sanchez and believes Usyk would be open to facing him after a convincing win, especially with the Ukrainian having already collected six wins over Fury, Joshua and Dubois.
That path is what gives this fight its weight. Usyk is the unified champion and holds the IBF belt, but the heavyweight picture around him remains crowded with big names and bigger paydays, which means even a mandatory challenger does not automatically get the shot he wants. For Sanchez, the calculation is simpler: get through Torrez Jnr first, and the rest becomes real.
Torrez Jnr brings a live test. He has 14 victories and 12 stoppages, and Borao called him a top, undefeated, relentless southpaw that nobody is looking past. Sanchez, 39, has been working under the tutelage of Eddy Reynoso for this fight, and Borao said the camp has done everything possible to prepare. He added that Sanchez's focus is on getting past Torrez on May 23, with the next goal coming only after that.
The pressure on Sanchez is sharpened by his only defeat, which came against Agit Kabayel in 2024 while he was hampered by a knee injury. That loss remains part of the story because it is the one result that still interrupts the run toward a title shot, even if his camp sees the Torrez bout as a chance to move beyond it.
For Sanchez, the bigger picture is clear: he wants to become the first Cuban heavyweight champion. For Usyk, the question is whether the mandatory route will matter as much as the lucrative options waiting elsewhere. Saturday in Giza will not answer that fully, but it will determine who gets to ask the next question.
