Agit Kabayel’s most recent win came against the feared Zhilei Zhang, becoming the first and only man to ever stop ‘Big Bang’.
Agit Kabayel is a dark horse in the heavyweight landscape, making his mark a few fights ago when he became the first man to defeat Arslanbek Makhmudov, a feared Russian knockout artist who came unstuck when he couldn’t weather the storm of Kabayel’s body attacks.
Kabayel then took Frank Sanchez’s undefeated status from him, again via a body shot KO.
His most recent outing saw Kabayel stop Zhilei Zhang in round six, becoming the first man to ever do so.
His run of form is impressive and shows a lot of development from where his career was just a few years ago.
Agit Kabayel was plagued by inactivity after close-shave with British legend
In 2017 Kabayel faced 27-7 Derek Chisora in defense of the European heavyweight title. Chisora, who may face Dubois next, had shared the ring with David Haye, Kubrat Pulev, Dillian Whyte, Tyson Fury, Vitali Klitschko, and more.
Though he lost these encounters, posed a serious threat to Kabayel’s chances at retaining the title.
The fight was a close one, and after 12 rounds it was unclear who had gotten the decision. The scorecards read 114-114, 115-114, 115-113, with Kabayel winning a majority decision.
This to date marks the closest Kabayel has come to losing, along with a fight in 2014 which he won by split decision.
Since his win over Chisora, who despite his unflattering record remains a British icon, Kabayel fought just once a year for the next five years, allowing his career to stagnate with wins over lacklustre or lesser-known opposition.
It was only in 2023 with his win over Makhmudov that Kabayel’s career received its much-needed second wind. Chisora has since praised Kabayel.
Agit Kabayel could pose a threat to Oleksandr Usyk for one reason
Having won a string of victories over highly-touted opposition, Kabayel is seeking a big fight next, and has said before he’d relish a chance against the former undisputed heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk won the undisputed crown in his unification fight with Fury but relinquished the IBF title which was claimed by Daniel Dubois. He remains a unified heavyweight world champion, and may become undisputed again as talk of a rematch with Dubois is rife.
Usyk’s first encounter with Dubois was a controversial one, as a body shot that dropped Usyk was ruled a low blow, with many fans maintaining that it was a legal shot despite the referee’s call.
The Ukrainian has shown vulnerability to body shots before, and was hurt to the body at one point against Anthony Joshua, as well as being dropped by a body shot from Artur Beterbiev in the amateurs.
With Kabayel’s three knock outs all coming by way of body shots, some suggest the German-Kurdish fighter may have Usyk’s kryptonite, and would love to see the pair go at it.