Espinoza vs Sanchez in the works for June

Sergio Chirino Sanchez sits at no. 2 in the WBO featherweight rankings

WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza and former titlist Robeisy Ramirez won’t be running it back after “El Divino’s” massive upset, or at least not yet. ESPN’s Salvador Sanchez brings word that Espinoza will meet no. 2 Sergio Chirino Sanchez in Vegas on the 21st or 22nd of June.

The 29-year-old Sanchez (22-1, 13 KO), unbeaten since a 2018 run-in with some guy named Mauricio Lara, has fought the entirety of his career on Mexican soil. His post-”Bronco” run hasn’t exactly been a murderer’s row; his last seven opponents were coming off of losses and he barely escaped with a majority draw against 5-6-2 Sebastian Tinoco Chavez last November.

You could have said almost exactly the same about Espinoza (24-0, 20 KO) ahead of that breakout win, to be fair, and both actually shared an opponent in Ally Mwerangi within four months of each other last year. You could think of this as Espinoza paying it forward.

That said, it may not be long before he runs into Ramirez again anyway. Arnold Khegai is above Sanchez in the rankings and Ramirez just behind, but word is that Khegai will face Lerato Dlamini in an IBF eliminator, leaving “El Tren” in prime position to take the mandatory challenger slot.

Fun fact: Stephen Fulton is right behind him at no. 4. What an eliminator that would be.