CARSON, Calif. – “The Cuban Flash” Frank Sanchez lived up to his nickname and made minced meat of Daniel Martz by dropping his outmatched opponent three times and scoring a first-round knockout. 

Twenty-eight seconds into his stay-busy, tune-up heavyweight tilt, a body shot combination from Sanchez (22-0, 15 KOs) dropped Martz. With 1:58 to go in the round, Sanchez connected with a clubbing right to the side of Martz’s temple, knocking him down again. Martz (20-11-1, 17 KOs) picked himself back up before getting rocked by another strong right hand and collapsing to the canvas, prompting referee Gerard White to immediately wave off the fight at the 1:41 mark.

Finding viable competition for the slick-boxing, 6-foot-4-inch Sanchez has often proven to be a tall task. Sanchez has previously promised that he’d knock out the likes of Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury, and Oleksandr Usyk.

Perhaps Chris Arreola, who was also featured in a stay-busy fight earlier in the night, would have been a more qualified opponent for Sanchez. 

After dropping and decisioning Efe Ajagba in 2021 for the most notable win of his six-year pro career, the 30-year-old Sanchez faced Christian Hammer and Carlos Negron before being presented with Martz.

Sanchez is ranked No. 2 by the WBO, No. 4 by the WBC, and No. 6 by the IBF.

The fight took place on the Premier Boxing Champions on Showtime card at the Dignity Health Sports Park. The event will be headlined by a super welterweight bout between interim WBC champion Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora (20-0-1, 13 KOs) and Brian Mendoza (21-2, 15 KOs).

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.