The shadow of Canelo Alvarez casts benevolently on the career of undefeated heavyweight contender Frank Sanchez.
As BoxingScene.com first reported, Sanchez will be a part of the undercard to Canelo's upcoming fight with WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith, which takes place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Sanchez will be fighting Julian Fernandez in a ten round contest - which is going to be the third fight of the year for the Cuban fighter.
Sanchez shares the same head trainer as Canelo, as earlier this year he joined the stable of Eddy Reynoso in San Diego, California.
Reynoso also trains fighters like Ryan Garcia, Luis Nery, Andy Ruiz and others.
Because of his physical dimensions, Sanchez has been helping Canelo prepare for Smith.
"People don't realize how good Canelo is," Sanchez explained to George Ebro. "I think he's going to be the winner, because he's got a lot of tools. I see him training hard always, very disciplined, dedicated.''
In his previous bout on November 7 in Los Angeles, Sanchez (16-0, 12 KO) defeated Brian Howard by fourth-round knockout and on March 7 had unanimously beaten Joey Dawekko at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Born in Tijuana, Fernandez (14-2, 11 KO) should not be a big problem for Sanchez.
At 28 years of age, Sanchez is ranked 10th by the World Boxing Organization and 14th in the World Association, positions that must improve if he wants to continue his march to a title.
"My wish for next year is to fight to become a mandatory challenger to a champion and go out and look for a fight for a world title,'" Sanchez added.
"I have learned many things being next to the Canelo and Reynoso. They opened the doors to their gym and made me feel like one of the family.''