Heavyweight hopeful Agit Kabayel has once again won the prestigious BOXSPORT “Boxer of the Year” award. Kabayel relegated Simon Zachenhuber and Abass Baraou, who were also nominated, to second place.
Moritz Müller)
Agit Kabayel has won the BOXSPORT “Boxer of the Year 2024” poll. The 32-year-old heavyweight from Bochum had already won this vote, which is voted for by the BOXSPORT community and a panel of experts, in 2023. “I’m very happy about this success,” said Kabayel, “also because I was able to successfully defend my title as ‘Boxer of the Year’. Thank you very much for that!”
The high-caliber jury included former world champion Regina Halmich, coaching legend Ulli Wegner and boxing idol Axel Schulz. In the vote, Agit Kabayel took the crown with a total of 456 points. He was followed by super middleweight Simon Zachenhuber and European half-middleweight champion Abass Baraou with 72 points each.
Ready for the next fight
In sporting terms, Agit Kabayel has recently advanced to the top of the world heavyweight rankings, at the latest with his spectacular knockout victory over Cuban Frank Sanchez on May 18, 2024. The next fight of Germany’s “Boxer of the Year 2024” will take place on February 22 in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), where he will face China’s Zhilei Zhang in a duel for the WBC interim world championship.
“My trainer Sükrü Aksu says that I’m already in good shape in terms of physical fitness and strength,” the “liver king” from the Pott revealed to BOXSPORT. In the last four to five weeks before the fight, his focus changes and his boxing skills are honed once again. “In the pre-competition preparation, it’s all about sparring,” says Kabayel. “No matter how hard the training was beforehand – nothing beats sparring, you go through fire.”
“Germany’s next champion”
He sees his next fight as another stage on the way to his big goal – becoming world heavyweight champion. “I know a lot of people are going in for this interim world title,” said the winner of the election about his upcoming task against Zhang in Riyadh. “Winning the fight is much more important than focusing on an interim belt.”
Kabayel recently signed a deal with the English top promoter “Queensberry Promotions” from London. “It’s not a long-term contract, but from fight to fight,” he revealed: “I’ve met with George Warren, the son of Queensberry boss Frank Warren, a few times and talked to him about the contract situation and the future. In any case, my goal remains to become Germany’s next heavyweight champion.”
Text: Frank Schwantes
You can read more about Agit Kabayel and the BOXSPORT “Boxer of the Year” poll in the new ePaper of the BOXSPORT app!
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