Hopes of a world championship fight against Oleksandr Usyk are fading. But Agit Kabayel promises his fans a “homecoming” to Germany soon.
Heavyweight Agit Kabayel’s next fight will take place in Germany. The interim WBC world champion announced this via social media. The “Leberking” also reports that he has received “endless messages from his fans about what’s coming up next for me”.
“It’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be big…”
Kabayel explained that his promoter Queensberry, his manager Spencer Brown and everyone else involved are working flat out to get the next fight off the ground. He announced: “It will be exciting, it will be big, it will be a homecoming event here in Germany.” According to the heavyweight from the Ruhr region, the venue and date have not yet been decided. But at least this much: “I hope I can tell you more about it in two or three weeks. It’s definitely going to be awesome.”
Kabayel, who is undefeated in 26 fights (26-0, 18 knockouts), last stood in the ring in Germany in March 2023. Back then, the 32-year-old fought in his hometown of Bochum and defeated Croatian Agron Smakici in a spectacular three-round fight, at the end of which the Leberking prevailed by T.K.O. This was the second time in his career that Kabayel had won the European Heavyweight Championship belt.
Against Usyk in 2026 at the earliest
With his knockout victory over Zhilei Zhang in February, Germany’s “Boxer of the Year 2024” secured the interim WBC title – making him the number one challenger to world champion Oleksandr Usyk. However, he will not get his chance against the undisputed champion from Ukraine until 2026 at the earliest. “It’s been clear for some time that Usyk won’t be boxing this year,” explained Kabayel on his Instagram channel. Until then, the Bochum-based heavyweight will have to remain active and defend his interim WBC belt and his status as a mandatory challenger.
For Kabayel, however, a home fight would fulfill a very personal wish. “An event in Germany would simply be awesome for the spectators. That would be mega for me and all the people who support me, that would be indescribable,” Kabayel told sport.de at the end of July. Possible venues include the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, the Ruhrstadion in Bochum or the PSD Bank Dome (Düsseldorf).
Text: Frank Schwantes