On a night that is already full of surprises and may well see more, not to mention some great action with more to come, Germany’s heavyweight Agit Kabayel once again proved that he really is THE dark horse of the glamour division. Facing the formidable Zhilei Zhang in a fight that contested the WBC interim heavyweight title, Kabayel was as good as his word when he said he would attack Zhang’s body.
Boy, did Kabayel torture Zhang’s body! It was a great fight, with Zhang having his moments – no less so than in round five, when “Big Bang” dropped Kabayel with a short left to the head – but Kabyel got up to get the job done in style.
The end came in round six, as Kabayel dropped Zhang with a body shot combo that left Zhang in real pain. Time was 2:29 of round six, and Kabayel is now 26-0(18). Zhang, the older man by nine years at age 41, falls to 27-3-1(22) and today marked his first stoppage loss.
Kabayel was perhaps surprised by Zhang’s fast start in the opening round, with the Chinese southpaw looking sprightly, letting his hands go. But Kabayel stuck to his plan of going downstairs, and it worked. As early as round two, certainly by round three, Zhang was clearly feeling the pace. Soon enough, Zhang was bloodied as well as open-mouthed.
Kabayel was so much the faster, more aggressive man, and it might have been quite shocking to some seeing Zhang forced on the back foot. But, as always, Zhang was still dangerous. Just when it was looking as though Zhang was done for the night, he fired back with a short left that decked Kabayel. But Kabayel got up from the 5th round knockdown and he looked okay, and then he fired back. The knockdown turned out to be Zhang’s last gasp.
Hurt bad from a body shot earlier in round six, when Zhang all but went down, the 287 pounder was then dropped, this time with no confusion. Zhang looked around, stunned as well as spent, and it was all over. It will be a tough road back for Zhang.
As for Kabayel not only might he be THE best body puncher in today’s heavyweight division, the 32 year old is also a man who is on one hell of a great run. Three times now on the bounce, Kabayel has beaten his opponent along with the betting odds. It might be going too far to say Kabayel is the biggest threat out there to Oleksandr Usyk’s dominance, but then again, maybe not.
