Once Diego Pacheco pulled out of his bout against Hamzah Sheeraz for the vacant WBO super middleweight title, Bank was next in line.

The 24-year-old Bank is ranked No. 3 by the WBO and seemingly solidified his shot at the vacant crown thanks to his one-sided, 12th-round stoppage of William Scull on Saturday night at Sydbank Arena in Kolding, Denmark, Bank's hometown.

Yet, even with Bank (18-0, 10 KOs) doing what Canelo Alvarez couldn’t do, which was to stop and dominate Scull, and despite being ranked slightly higher, the WBO opted to give Germany's Alem Begic (29-0-1, 23 KOs) the opportunity. The 38-year-old Begic, who’s ranked No. 4 by the sanctioning body, will now face England's Sheeraz in the coming months.

Bank, at least on paper, would appear to be more deserving. However, Gustavo Olivieri, president of the WBO, explained to The Ring why his organization went in another direction.

“Queensberry (Sheeraz’s promoter) proceeded to select the first available contender,” Olivieri told The Ring. “Providing the WBO an official date (May 2026 in Manchester), venue and opponent signed, sealed, and delivered prior to the Bank/Scull bout. Therefore, Bank was unavailable at the time of selection due to his commitment with Scull.”

Olivieri also explained that after Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) fights Begic, Bank could get a next shot. Begic is coming off back-to-back wins against undefeated but unheralded opponents in Mahdi Safdari and David Kerkmann.

Sheeraz earned his No. 2 WBO ranking and No. 8 spot on The Ring’s super middleweight list by stopping Edgar Berlanga in the fifth round of “The Ring III” main event July 12 at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.