Frank Sanchez has resurrected old business for a new fight date.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the undefeated Cuban heavyweight will face Puerto Rican Carlos Negrón as part of a show already announced for October 15 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The rescheduled fight was confirmed by Joe Goossen, Sanchez’s trainer.
The Fox Sports Pay-Per-View card is headlined by another heavyweight fight, with former champion Deontay Wilder (42-2-1, 41KOs) and Robert Helenius (31-3, 20KOs) in a WBC semifinal eliminator. 12 rounds.
The two were originally scheduled to meet on January 1 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Negron (25-3, 20KOs) was forced to withdraw less than a week before the Fox Sports pay-per-view after testing positive for Covid. Sanchez (20-0, 13KOs) remained on the card, facing late replacement Christian Hammer, whom he outpointed in a lopsided ten rounds.
Sanchez previously fought on the undercard of Wilder’s 11th-round knockout loss to Tyson Fury (32-0-1, 23KOs) in his epic trilogy last October 9 in Las Vegas. The 30-year-old Cuban export — who lives in Miami and trains in California — outpointed Efe Ajagba over ten rounds in their battle of undefeated heavyweights.
Negron will finish a layoff of more than a year, having been out of the ring since last September. The 2008 Olympian from Puerto Rico, who lives and trains in Miami and is a sparring partner of veteran contender Luis Ortiz, will enter the fight having won his last five starts, including back-to-back early knockouts at Miami club shows.
The exact location of the Sánchez-Negrón fight is yet to be confirmed, but it is expected to be part of the Fox Sports PPV portion of the show, as would have been the case for their planned Jan. 1 clash. Sanchez is currently ranked No. 4 by the WBC, although former unified champion Andy Ruiz (35-2, 22KOs) is expected to overtake him in the next ranking update following his win over Ortiz in their semifinal title eliminator at the WBC. WBC on September 4 in Los Angeles. .
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
