UPDATE: According to a Sky Sports social media post, Efe Ajagba has withdrawn from the IBF elimination process, opening the door for rising heavyweight Moses Itauma to join the mix for an IBF eliminator against Frank Sanchez. It remains unknown if Sanchez would agree to an Itauma fight. On August 26th, Sampson Lewkowicz's Sampson Boxing won a purse bid for the the right to promote an IBF eliminator between Sanchez and Ajagba, but at a price where the purses would be very unattractive to the boxers. Sampson's winning bid was $302,000, which would be split 60% for Ajagba and 40% for Sanchez, assuming both men accepted the fight. Top Rank, Ajagba's promoter, put up a losing bid for $210,000. Under IBF rules, Sampson must schedule the bout to take place within 28 and 90 days and not more than 90 days from today, which is Monday, November 24th. 

AUG. 19, 2025: A purse bid for an IBF heavyweight eliminator is back on the books after a few previous postponements.. The promotional rights to a potential Frank Sanchez vs. Efe Ajagba rematch is scheduled to be  auctioned off on Tuesday, August 26, 2025 at 12 noon. Sanchez defeated Ajagba by unanimous decision in 2021, but with heavyweight contenders Filip Hrgovic and Derek Chisora jockeying for bigger fights, Sanchez and Ajagba are the two highest ranked fighters in the IBF ratings to enter the elimination process. Undefeated world champion Oleksandr Usyk owns all four major heavyweight titles, including the IBF version.

AUG. 11, 2025: The IBF announced that the Efe Ajagba vs. Frank Sanchez purse bid has been postponed until further notice.

AUG. 4, 2025: When Filip Hrgovic pulled out of the IBF heavyweight elimination process, on July 24th, the IBF ordered #3 ranked Efe Ajagba and #4 ranked Frank Sanchez to begin negotiations for an eliminator for the vacant #1 position. Derek Chisora sits at #2. Carl Moretti of Top Rank, representing Ajagba, confirmed that Ajagba would like to proceed straight to a purse bid, which is permitted under IBF rules. The IBF initially scheduled a purse for Tuesday, August 5th but that has now been pushed back one week until August 12th. Oleksandr Usyk owns all four major heavyweight titles, including the IBF version.

MAY 19, 2024: In a WBC heavyweight eliminator held on the big Riyadh, Saudi Arabia show, Agit Kabayel (25-0, 17 KOs) made a huge career move forward, stopping the favored and previously undefeated Frank Sanchez (24-1, 17 KOs)  in round seven. Kabayel defeated Sanchez with a strong body attack. The normally mobile Sanchez fought with a brace on his right knee. Kabayel is Kurdish but lives in Germany.

OCT. 10, 2021: Cuban heavyweight Frank Sanchez (19-0, 13 KOs) scored one knockdown on his way to a comfortable, ten-round unanimous decision win over Efe Ajagba. Sanchez used his superior boxing skills to keep the hard-hitting Ajagba (15-1, 12 KOs) off-balance for the entire fight. The “Cuban Flash” displayed his power as well, flooring Ajagba with a hard right in the seventh. A follow-up left hook which landed a tick after Ajagba’s knee hit the canvas Ajagba made it to his feet and survived the round but never seriously threatened on his way to the first defeat of his career. Sanchez said afterwards, "I knew I was going to win all the rounds because I’m much better than him technically. I knew that if I connected, he would fall and he did fall. My game plan was always to frustrate him and go in for the attack."