The undefeated heavyweight contender understands, though, that beating Sanchez in their IBF elimination match in Giza, Egypt won’t guarantee him a fight versus Usyk. The unbeaten Ukrainian hasn’t mentioned the Torrez-Sanchez winner as a potential opponent for either of his final two bouts before he retires.

The historical significance of challenging the 39-year-old unified champion naturally intrigues Torrez, yet he is also open to testing himself against the youngest sensation in the division. Whereas most heavyweights want little to do with Moses Itauma, Torrez welcomes that treacherous assignment.

“I’m about that action, man, you know?,” Torrez told The Ring. “I think it’s really cool, what he’s doing in the UK. I think that he’s an incredible fighter and I think that if we were able to collide and make something happen, it’d be fireworks, man. You know, like I don’t run from smoke. I don’t run from anything like that.

“I want the best fights and I think that that would be a really, really cool opportunity, to have two English speaking guys sharing a ring, being able to talk trash or whatever. I’m not that good at it – I’ll learn a little better. But being able to just be in that atmosphere, man, it would be something epic. And that’s something that I would search for.”

Torrez respects the way Itauma handles his business in and out of the ring. He just wants to test himself against the emerging English contender, who’s ranked sixth in The Ring’s heavyweight top 10, two spots ahead of Torrez.

“I heard he’s a pretty standup guy and, hey man, at the end of the day this is business, you know?,” Torrez said. “We’ll get in the ring, do what we need to do, and if he wants to get a burger afterwards, we can. But like I wanna fight and I love that competition and he’s looking like he’s that guy, man.”

Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs) is expected to face Croatian contender Filip Hrgovic (20-1, 15 KOs) on August 8. If Itauma beats Hrgovic and neither he nor Torrez (14-0, 12 KOs) can secure a shot at Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs), an Itauma-Torrez match might make sense.

The 26-year-old Torrez – a 2020 Olympic silver medalist from Tulare, California – is confident his speed, agility and endurance would present Itauma with issues the likes of Dillian Whyte and Jermaine Franklin could not.

“I don’t think you should be in the game if you don’t think you’re the best,” Torrez said. “You know, I thoroughly believe that I’m the best. I think my conditioning has been able to speak for itself a little bit. I’m an Olympic silver medalist. I think that my amateur pedigree, my amateur background has been able … to kinda give me a good foundation of being able to talk a little bit.

“And then, on top of that is, I mean, he’s a smaller guy like me. And we’ve got that speed and we’ve got that quickness. He hasn’t really fought anybody that kinda has that speed and quickness as well. And I would like to be able to throw my hat in there and just see how it goes, you know? And I think that with my feints, my conditioning and my style, it would make it hard for anybody.”

The 12-round bout between Torrez and Cuba’s Sanchez (25-1, 18 KOs) is part of a Ring card DAZN will stream from the Pyramids of Giza (4 p.m. BST; 11 a.m. ET).

Subscribers to DAZN’s Ultimate plan, which costs $49.99 per month in the United States and £24.99 in the United Kingdom, can view the Usyk-Verhoeven card for no additional charge. It is also available via pay-per-view in the U.S. ($59.99) and UK (£24.99) for non-subscribers.