By Graham Ilford: Frank Sanchez’s co-manager, Mike Borao, says his focus is to fight for the “number one position” in the IBF heavyweight rankings against “whoever” that person is that he goes up against.
Purse Bid Countdown
The Cuban Sanchez (25-1, 18 KOs) failed to negotiate a deal with former IBF champion Dubois (23-3, 21 KOs). They have a purse bid scheduled for next week, on November 13th.
They want to get this decided so they can focus on training to capture the IBF eliminator spot to challenge champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Endgame for Daniel?
Sanchez, 33, possesses the hand speed and power that could prove to be kryptonite against Dubois, who crumbled quickly in his fifth-round knockout loss to Usyk in their rematch last summer on July 19, 2025. This could be a pure disaster for what’s left of Dubois’ career. Going up against Sanchez, who is all wrong for him in terms of speed and power, could finish off the one-hit wonder.
Dubois looked mentally disengaged from the get-go, with a spaced-out look of someone who wasn’t there. You could see that he wasn’t focused from the moment he made his ringwalk.
The reports of Dubois having a party at his house on the day of his fight are troubling. It suggests that he thought he had the victory in the bag already against the 38-year-old Usyk. Some would argue that Daniel’s previous fight against Anthony Joshua, in which he wiped out AJ in five rounds on September 21, 2024, went to his head, making him believe he could walk on water.
“Of course, Frank prefers to fight a top former world champion like Daniel Dubois to prove himself elite,” said Mike Borao to Sky Sports about Frank Sanchez wanting to fight Dubois in an IBF title eliminator.
“At this point, however, Frank is just anxious to fight for the number one position, whoever it may be.”
Sanchez’s Golden Return
Frank Sanchez looked golden in his last fight, knocking out Ramon Olivas Echeverria in the third round on February 22, 2025. It was Sanchez’s first fight back after having arthroscopic knee surgery on his right knee in June 2024.
In Sanchez’s fight before that, he was stopped in the seventh round by Agit Kabayel on May 18, 2024. However, he’d fought with an injured right knee and appeared far from 100%. Still, Sanchez’s massive headshots, thrown with lightning speed, that Kabayel was forced to absorb. Few heavyweights would have been able to take those punches without succumbing quickly.
“There will be no tune-up fights for Daniel Dubois. Twenty-eight years old, he’s coming off an undisputed title fight, so there’ll be no warm-up fights. It’s straight back in,” said adviser Sam Jones about Dubois wanting to force a quick world title shot to a trilogy with champion Oleksandr Usyk
No Warm-Ups for Dubois
You can understand why Dubois is in a mad hurry to get a title shot. If he’s going to catch champion Usyk before he retires, he’s got to take chances by facing the dangerous Sanchez. Dubois’ purse for his rematch with Usyk last July was a colossal $71 million.
He’s not going to make that kind of loot fighting any of the contenders. Moreover, with Dubois’ shaky punch resistance, the chances are that he’ll get weeded out soon by one of them. Sanchez has an excellent chance of eliminating Dubois from his title chase.
Veteran boxing columnist Graham Ilford brings dry humor and long-earned perspective to the sport.