Jared Anderson will be offered to face #3 ranked Frank Sanchez in an IBF heavyweight title eliminator to determine a mandatory challenger for champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Top Rank’s gambling
The promoters for top-ranked 26-year-old Ohio native Anderson (18-1, 15 KOs) are interested in their #6 ranked IBF contender to face Cuban Sanchez (25-1, 18 KOs).
Sky Sports broke the news about being Top Rank today “open” to Jared vs. Sanchez in the IBF title eliminator. It will be a gamble for the 6’4″ Anderson to take this fight, but it will have a high payoff if he defeats the experienced 33-year-old Sanchez.
Contenders drop
It would be brave of Anderson to agree to face Frank Sanchez, as these top 10 contenders turned down against him in the IBF title eliminator:
- Moses It will hurt
- Daniel Dubois
- Filip Hrgovic
- Worship Ajagba
- Richard Torrez Jr.
As Anderson has looked in his last two fights against Marios Kollias and Martin Bakole, he will likely be the underdog against Frank Sanchez.
Last year on August 3, 2024, Jared was knocked out in the fifth round by Bakole on Turki Alalshikh’s loaded card at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California. In that fight, Anderson was seen by boxing fans as an excellent chance to defeat Martin.
Things quickly fell apart for Anderson when he was dropped by Bakole in the first round. In the fifth he was bumped twice by the big 6’6″ Bakole and then stopped on his feet.
Anderson beat the unheralded Marios Kollias (12-4-1, 10 KOs) by a 10-round unanimous decision on February 14, 2025 in New York. The scores were 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92.
Anderson’s title Lifeline
Fighting Sanchez might be Anderson’s best chance to get the opportunity to fight for a world title. He looked poor in his fights against Kollias, Bakole, Ryad Merhy and Charles Martin. Those fights showed that Anderson has trouble taking big shots.
Sanchez’s injury note
Sanchez is an excellent puncher and possesses excellent hand speed. His combination punching and boxing skills make him a nightmare for any heavyweight. Last year he was stopped by Agit Kabayel in the seventh round on May 18, 2024. However, Sanchez was fighting an existing right knee injury in that fight, which played a role in him being stopped.
Despite the injury, he landed many heavy combinations to the head of Kabayel that would have knocked out many heavyweights.
Last updated on 25/11/2025
