With a question such as this, it might be useful to consider just how much of this story focuses on King's own musings concerning his declining career, and of the contrasts of age and youth. Indeed, this interplay between age and youth is perhaps this story's defining theme, one which is embodied in the fight between King and Sandel.
Taken from a purely thematic standpoint, I'd suggest this story is quite clear in providing an answer to this question. Age is associated with wisdom and experience, while youth is associated with raw vitality: the former can only be won at the expense of the later. Thus, one can expect that, with time, Sandel will become a much more intelligent and strategic fighter, but in order to get to that point, he would have lost much of the physical powers associated with youth. In that respect, you would expect Sandel's career will mirror King's own.
Here, however, we should stop and consider the degree to which King's insights are sufficient in providing an answer to this question. Remember, this entire story is filtered through his own personal context and history as fighter (and no one else's). With that in mind, we're not actually discussing Sandel's future as a fighter so much as we're discussing King's expectations concerning that future.
But remember, expectations are not equivalent with reality. In that respect, this question might ultimately be an unanswerable one. After all, we don't know how Sandel's career will proceed: those details are outside of the story Jack London tells.
London's story is one that pits age and the experience and knowlwdge that come with it against youth and sheer power, and in this case, age loses.
The point is made again and again in the narrative that Tom King is on the way out. He's an "old 'un," basically finished as a boxer, and he knows it. His "smarts" in the ring are what give him a chance, at least, against the younger fighter, but even so, it's only a small chance. Tom's recollection of his career, his past glory and his carelessness with money when he was flush with it serve as the backdrop for his last gasp as a boxer. With time and experience Sandel will become the calculating and economic fighter Tom is, but for this fight, it doesn't matter that he's not, because youth wins the day over age.
Tom's reflection that he would have won the fight "if only I had had a piece of steak" for supper is less bitter than it is simply melancholy and rueful. This is the way life is, the message of the story goes, as in London's works as a whole. The battle is won by the one who is stronger, whether in boxing, or in the wilderness of the Yukon, where a dog survives and a man does not in "To Build a Fire" and, conversely, a man survives and a wolf does not in "Love of Life."
The short story "A Piece of Steak" by Jack London tells of an aging prizefighter, Tom King, who eats only some bread and gravy before an important fight while his wife and kids go hungry. He knows that if he had a piece of steak to eat he would be much stronger, but there is nothing he can do about it; his family has no money and no credit left. He goes up against a much younger fighter named Sandel who has the advantages of stamina and the ability to recover quickly from King's hits.
In "A Piece of Steak," London brings out the differences between old and young fighters: between those on their way up in their careers—easy and careless—and those more experienced fighters who have more responsibilities and higher stakes if they lose.
As the fight starts, Sandel attacks immediately and rapidly with many punches while King bides his time. The experience of age has taught King to be a thoughtful and economic fighter. He doesn't have the reserves of strength and stamina that Sandel has, so he must wait for the right moments to be aggressive. While he holds back, though, he is analyzing his opponent's moves so he can get the maximum advantage out of everything that happens. London writes that Sandel will only learn to be a thoughtful fighter like King when he is older, and then it will be too late:
Sandel would never become a world champion. He lacked the wisdom, and the only way to get it was to buy it with Youth; and when wisdom was his, Youth would have been spent in buying it.
Sandel, with the strength of youth, goes on to win the fight. In summary, however, we can see that Sandel will not learn to be a more thoughtful and economic fighter until he is old and has lost much of his strength.
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