You really have to hand it to unbeaten heavyweight contender Agit Kabayel. Very much an old school fighter in as much as he will fight anyone, anywhere, with the German really earning his shot at the world title, Kabayel is absolutely a guy to root for. Now, fresh off his latest impressive stoppage win, this over Zhilei Zhang, the win seeing Kabayel become the WBC interim heavyweight champion, the 32 year old is in no mood to sit on his win.
Instead, Kabayel, who has shown how good and how dangerous a fighter he is in his recent run of big wins – over Arslanbek Makhmudov, Frank Sanchez, and Zhang – wants to test himself further as he waits for his world title chance.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kabayel, 26-0(18), said he would like to box again in the autumn/fall, against a big name.
“Does it make sense for us to fight [Anthony] Joshua? Yes, for me it will definitely be fun to box against AJ,” Kabayel said. “I can also measure myself from a sporting perspective. Whether I’m in good against AJ, whether I get along well with AJ. If we just say we want to fight [for] the world championship, only this fight against AJ would make sense. [Deontay] Wilder will be thrown in again, I think. Wilder would only make sense in terms of his name and standing.”
Kabayel has pretty much taken us by surprise with his excellent run of form, he is for certain a much better fighter now than when he was winning a pretty dull decision over Derek Chisora some years back. Kabayel might be the best body puncher in today’s heavyweight division. In terms of Kabayel getting a fight with either Joshua or Wilder, though, both fights seem doubtful.
Eddie Hearn recently stated that Joshua is injured and will not be able to fight again until the late summer. And some boxing people have asked the question: will Joshua even fight again? While as for Wilder, the last we heard he was perhaps somewhat close to agreeing a fight with Francis Ngannou.
Kabyel, however, deserves credit and respect for wanting to stay busy. World heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk wants a return fight with Daniel Dubois next, while after that he may have just one more bout before retiring. Still, whether it’s against Usyk or if it’s in a fight for the vacant belt, Kabayel will have to be afforded his shot at the WBC title sooner rather than later.
The three most deserving fighters out there right now as far as a shot at Usyk, are, you may agree – Kabayel, Joe Parker, and Dubois. But who will Usyk fight after his rematch with Dubois, assuming he wins that fight?
