Frank Sanchez took a significant step forward on the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder card Saturday.
The well-schooled Cuban heavyweight outboxed fellow prospect Efe Ajagba to win a one-sided unanimous decision at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, a victory that should move him up the rankings.
Sanchez (19-0, 13) and Ajagba (15-1, 12 KOs) have a similar number of pro fights but the former had a vast amateur background in his native country, which made him an excellent boxer.
Sanchez didn’t land a tremendous number of punches but landed more and cleaner shots — many of them counters — and was an elusive target.
Ajagba will probably regret not throwing more punches in the fight. However, that might’ve been the result of Sanchez’s tactics. He just never gave Ajagba a good target.
Sanchez seemed to catch a break in Round 6, when he fell to a knee after taking a jab from Ajagba. It was ruled a slip.
And then, in Round 8, the winner had both his biggest and most bizarre moment. A hard right forced Ajagba to take a knee, at which time Sanchez landed a left hook.
Of course, it’s illegal to hit a man when he’s down. However, referee Mike Ortega took no action.
In the end, no one was surprised by the scoring. Sanchez won 98-91, 98-91 and 97-92. Boxing Junkie scored it 98-91 for Sanchez.
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