From underdog to contender: Agit Kabayel targets boxing’s biggest prize
Agit Kabayel burst onto the heavyweight scene with dominant upset wins over Arslanbek Makhmudov and Frank Sanchez in his two most recent fights, both in Saudi Arabia.
Kabayel, rated No. 5 by The Ring at heavyweight, ripped up the script and made the most of his opportunity, thus positioning himself for even bigger fights.
“I was a massive underdog against Arslanbek, who was 18-0 with 17 knockouts, one of the scariest punchers in the heavyweight division and ranked WBC No. 3, WBA No. 4, IBF No. 7 and WBO No. 14 before our fight,” Kabayel (25-0, 17 knockouts) told The Ring. “Almost nobody believed that I could win this fight. But I did what I had to. Everything worked as planned, and with knocking out Arslanbek, I definitely put the heavyweight division on notice and announced myself on the world stage.
“After I had to be the underdog again and most people once again counted me out against highly rated Cuban Frank Sanchez, who was 24-0 with 17 KOs and ranked WBC No. 2, WBO No. 3, WBA No. 4 and IBF No. 6 before our fight. Again, I did what I had to do, followed the game plan and knocked out Sanchez.”
Previously, the best win on Kabayel’s record was over Derek Chisora, but that was back in 2017. He signed co-promotional forms with Top Rank, but then the COVID pandemic hit and he saw his ambitions shelved.
It’s been something of a battle to get to this point, but the patient German is now enjoying the fruits of his labor.
“I beat two top three contenders, so now I’m up there: WBC No. 2, the IBF’s highest-ranked contender, WBO No. 5 and Ring Magazine’s No. 5,” said the affable contender. “My name is getting mentioned in one sentence with Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk and [Anthony Joshua], and finally people believe in my skills.”
The 31-year-old hopes to fight again in the fall but admits he doesn’t have anything in the works.
“I’m back in the gym, getting ready for the next challenges,” he said. “I felt very welcome in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is a special place for me — I fought myself into the elite of the heavyweight division in winning those two fights in Riyadh. Of course, I’m ready and can’t wait to be back in the ring there.”
He was a keen observer of the recent Riyadh Season event in Los Angeles when two heavyweight fights landed on the undercard of Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov.
“[Martin] Bakole did a great job. I was sure before this fight that Bakole was going to be too much for 24-year-old Jared Anderson,” he said. “It was the first real challenge in Jared’s career and it was a couple of fights too early for him to face Bakole, who — inside boxing — everyone knew what an exceptional boxer he is.
“[Andy] Ruiz vs. [Jarrell] Miller was exciting, great for the fans. I really enjoyed both fights. That showed boxing is more than alive — especially the heavyweight division.”
Kabayel’s target, of course, is the biggest prize in boxing.
“My goal is to become heavyweight champion of the world,” he said. “In the past, many people were laughing about this dream of mine and they were sure that I would never make it. With my success, I silenced a lot of people. But I’m just getting started.”
His handler, Benny Blanko, is working diligently to keep his hot fighter active while having one eye on the bigger prize next year.
“I would like to see Agit involved in another megafight this year,” said Blanko. “And of course I want to witness him fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming world heavyweight champion.”
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk.
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