Agit Kabayel became the first man to stop Zhilei Zhang in one of the opening bouts on the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 card.
Agit Kabayel stunned fans when he got off the canvas in the fifth round against Zhilei Zhang, and stopped ‘Big Bang’ in the sixth, becoming the first man to ever do so.
Zhang has been beaten twice before, once on a majority decision to Joseph Parker, who had to get up off the canvas twice to claim the win, and the other time on a highly controversial unanimous decision against Filip Hrgovic.
The bout was just one of many action-packed fights, with Joseph Parker stopping late replacement Martin Bakole, Shakur Stevenson defending his titles against Josh Padley (despite Padley claiming Shakur has no power), and Hamzah Sheeraz fighting to a controversial draw with Carlos Adames.
Kabayel continues his undefeated run and his pursuit of giving Germany a new heavyweight champion.
Derek Chisora applauds his former foe Agit Kabayel
Derek Chisora, who has fought both Joseph Parker and Agit Kabayel in his twenty-year career, which is set to end after his next and final fight, was seen speaking to Kabayel following his win over Zhang.
Chisora said to Kabayel: “You’re almost the guy in the background, the ghost, which people don’t realise what’s happening”.
He told Kabayel: “It was a good fight though” to which his former foe replied: “It was a hard fight.”
Chisora said: “Was it? You’ve no mark on you, look at you.”
Kabayel defeated Chisora on a majority decision in 2017 before facing lesser opposition for a few years but has now shown his level as he topples a heavyweight contender in Zhang.
Who else has Agit Kabayel beaten?
Kabayel has put together an impressive string of victories lately, with his latest win over Zhang potentially topping them all. However, Kabayel’s two fights before that were also something to behold.
In 2023, on the undercard of the Deontay Wilder vs Parker / Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin double-header, Kabayel stopped Arslanbek Makhmudov in just the fourth round.
Makhmudov was, at that point, a feared contender with an 18-0 record and 17 knockouts to his name.
In 2024, Kabayel proved himself once more as he stopped Frank Sanchez in the seventh round of their bout.
Sanchez, too, was undefeated at the time, with a 24-0 record and wins over Junior Fa and Efe Ajagba.
In Saturday night’s main event, Dmitry Bivol evened the score against Artur Beterbiev, setting up a trilogy for the light-heavyweight crown.