Wish it were JP fighting Sanchez, but this is a real chance for Fa to redeem himself since the Browne debacle. Maybe markk might even give us a blow by blow of what's happening in SA.
If the Fa who fought JP shows up, he could beat Sanchez. Come on, FA!
Fa's last four fights:
2022‑10‑23 Tussi Asafo 0 6 0 W‑KO
2022‑06‑05 Lucas Browne 30 3 0 L‑TKO
2021‑02‑27 Joseph Parker 27 2 0 L‑UD
2019‑11‑15 Devin Vargas 21 5 0 W‑UD
This is Fa's chance to get back in the top 15. Sanchez is WBC#4 and WBO#3.
Junior Fa’s career rescued with fight against Frank Sanchez on Saudi Arabia card with Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker
By Christopher Reive
Just seven days ago, Junior Fa was in a state of flux. It had been more than a year since the Kiwi heavyweight boxer had competed in the ring and there were no signs of that drought ending any time soon.
It had the 34-year-old questioning his future in the sport, with his last bout - a quick KO win - now being more than a year behind him. The tools were still sharp, but they were left lying in the shed as no bout offers were coming in; Fa turning to personal training as a way to make money with no fights on the table.
“It’s a contract-to-contract type job, and no contracts were coming in which basically meant I had no income coming in. Through that time was a bit stressful,†Fa told the Herald.
“Opportunities were drying out for me. In terms of faith in my skill and ability, that was always there. Sometimes during hard weeks, I’d be playing these mental games in my head saying maybe this is it, then I’d go into the gym and kick some ass.
“That belief was always there, but it was just continuous mind games of those questions like maybe this is it, I don’t know if the opportunity’s going to come up again, should I maybe look to do something else?â€
That all changed this week, with Fa (20-2; 11KOs) booking a fight against one of the world’s best heavyweights. On December 24 (NZ time), Fa will square off against Cuban Frank Sanchez (23-0, 16KO) on the stacked Day of Reckoning card which also features Joseph Parker against Deontay Wilder, and several of the biggest names in the sport.
The opportunity came about by chance. Fa has previously worked as a sparring partner with Wilder and got a call from the former WBC champion’s trainer Jay Deas last Friday between training sessions about reprising that role to help with preparation for his bout against Parker.
At that point, the fight wasn’t official. Fa was asked to keep it quiet but did tell his coaches at Auckland’s City Kickboxing gym. They commented that it would be cool if they could get Fa a spot on the card.
Only a few hours went by before he got another call. This time, it was his manager Mark Keddell asking if he wanted to fight Sanchez on the same card.
“The other week I had no idea what I was going to do until the end of the year. I was in limbo mode, keeping up with training but losing a bit of focus. Now this has come up, it’s a great opportunity and it’s awesome to get back in there again against such a massive opponent on a massive card,†Fa said.
“It’s crazy, bro, crazy. The speed that this whole thing got done, it tells you one thing – there’s a lot of money in this. To get all the promoters and all the fighters to agree on such short notice, it just shows there’s so much money, and Saudi Arabia and the guys putting it on are putting so much stock into this.â€
A fight against Sanchez is one full of opportunity for Fa, who will look to move back into the top 15 rankings after his shock KO loss to Lucas Browne saw him ousted from them.
Sanchez, a slick, technical operator who hails from Cuba, is ranked in the top 15 with all four of the major governing bodies, and in the top six of three of them.
After flying to London to attend the event press conference earlier this week, Fa will now immerse himself in camp with Wilder in Alabama. In preparing for Sanchez, Fa said he knew exactly what he would be in for when he stepped into the ring against him.
“As soon as I got the name, I knew who he was, but I’ve looked more closely into it. He’s a very, very nice boxer,†Fa said.
“I’ve got a gameplan for myself to deal with him and I’m going to trust my coaches, see what they think and it’ll be my job to execute it. But I’m not going to fool myself. I think this is the first fight I’ve gone into where I’m saying I’m not the better boxer; this guy is technically better than me, so I’m going to make it a fight.
“I’m just being real. I’ve got to be careful to make sure it’s not coming off like I’m less than, but I know he’s got me in that department, so I’ve got to get him over here. It’s that type of thing.â€
I know it's sparring, but if Fa can hang with Wilder, surely he can hang with Sanchez. From what Fa said in the article, it sounds like he's gonna bring some power and try to KO him, knowing he can't outbox Sanchez. Hopefully, his health is good now.
Fa is where I would have predicted him if he had continued on that trajectory after the JP, beating Browne. Fa was top 15 at one point, and needed to fight the Sanchez' of the world. Now his chance has come...
Great opportunity for both our top guys
Love to hear that Fa is going to WAR
I think JP may be forced into a War as well - which may be a good thing
Junior Fa on sparring Deontay Wilder, Frank Sanchez Day of Reckoning bout and being ranked in the top 10 again
Christopher Reive
Training in Alabama alongside Deontay Wilder for their respective bouts on the Day of Reckoning card in Saudi Arabia, Junior Fa got an unexpected bit of news.
Going into the biggest fight of his career against Frank Sanchez next week, Fa was once again ranked among the top 10 heavyweight boxers in the world with the WBA.
Fa (20-2) has been ranked in the top 10 before, sitting at number six with the WBO when he fought Joseph Parker in 2021, but has had just one fight after back-to-back losses to Parker and Lucas Browne. That fight was a commanding win against a 0-6 opponent and happened over a year ago.
While Fa was happy to see a number next to his name again, he admitted it was a little bit strange.
“It just kind of meant nothing, to be honest. I just laughed at it. One of the bros sent it to me and was like, ‘Check this out, bro, you’re in the top 10′, and I was just like, ‘Oh, wow. I’ve literally just done nothing’. It looks good, but that’s it,” Fa told the Herald.
“Boxing’s funny. That’s why I didn’t really post it anywhere. I was just like, it’s boxing doing boxing, chucking me in the top 10 because I’m fighting. I didn’t fight for it at all.
“Like, it’s cool. I’m not bragging or doing anything about it. I definitely know how good I am, and I’m definitely going to be performing well on the night. In terms of game plan and if anything has changed, nothing’s changed. I’m still training hard for this fight.”
Fa faces a big challenge in Sanchez, with the Cuban holding a 23-0 record with 16 knockouts and a top-10 ranking with all four of the sport’s major organisations.
It’s a case of big risk, big reward for the 34-year-old Aucklander, who took the fight on with about six weeks’ notice and is one of four of the WBA’s top 10 heavyweights to be fighting on the card, alongside Sanchez (8), Anthony Joshua (3) and Wilder (1).
Fa has been called into camp with Wilder as a sparring partner in the past and was again brought in for Wilder’s preparations for Joseph Parker, which will be the penultimate fight on the card on Christmas Eve (NZ time).
Soon after being called in for sparring, Fa had his own fight confirmed on the card, and he’s been in camp with Wilder in a slightly different capacity this time around, as he too has a fight to train for.
“It’s a little bit different because usually, if I’m just here for sparring, I don’t really have anything specific that I need to work on. Whereas now that I have my fight, I have things that I need to stick to for my game plan.
“In terms of intensity or anything, it always stays the same, but right now it’s more focus on what I need to do to perform how I should be performing in the fight. Sparring just changes in that kind of aspect, that I have things that I need to work on and focus on.”
When asked what those things were, Fa laughed: “Huge right hand, huge left hook and knock him out.”
Fa has had Mike Angove, striking coach at City Kickboxing, in Alabama with him and has been in contact with the gym’s other coaches to make plans to hand Sanchez his first career loss. Fa said the gym’s head boxing coach, Doug Viney, has been sending him messages almost every day regarding the fight, his preparation and how he’s feeling.
“The plan’s all coming together. It’s nice.”
WBA
Oleksandr Usyk
Mahmoud Charr
1.Deontay Wilder
2.Martin Bakole
Anthony Joshua
Arslanbek Makhmudov
Lenier Pero
Jarrell Miller
Daniel Dubois
Frank Sanchez
Fabio Wardley
10 Junior Fa
Cassius Chaney
Filip Hrgovic
Justis Huni
Jonathan Guidry
Ivan Dychko