After three brutal knockouts, Agit Kabayel believes that the heavyweight elite are deliberately avoiding him.
Agit Kabayel has impressively demonstrated in recent months why he is one of the most dangerous heavyweights in the world. But it is precisely this dominance that now seems to be putting him at a disadvantage. The 33-year-old WBC interim world champion believes that the division’s top stars are deliberately avoiding him.
“People call me the boogeyman of heavyweight now,” Kabayel said on DAZN’s “On the Ground” format. “A lot of people just don’t want to fight me.” In his last three appearances, Kabayel stopped Arslanbek Makhmudov, Frank Sanchez and Zhilei Zhang in succession with uncompromising body shots – all previously unbeaten or never beaten early. The reward was winning the WBC interim title in Riyadh in February. This seemed to pave the way for a really big fight. However, undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk recently chose to relinquish his WBO belt rather than face interim champion Fabio Wardley.
For now, however, Kabayel is focusing on his homecoming. Tomorrow, Saturday, he will face the unbeaten Pole Damian Knyba in Oberhausen. Despite being the clear favorite, Kabayel knows that only another convincing performance will bring him closer to his big goal. “I’m so close,” says Kabayel. “As a child, I was told I’d never make it. Now I’m interim world champion – and the world championship fight is within my grasp.” If Kabayel lives up to his role as favorite on his homecoming, it remains to be seen whether Oleksandr Usyk will face the German – or whether he would rather give up his belt to avoid a fight with the “Leberking”.
Text by Robin Josten