Agit Kabayel believes Oleksandr Usyk will choose not to fight him next, even though the unbeaten German is in position as the WBC interim heavyweight champion and mandatory challenger. After Usyk’s difficult win over Rico Verhoeven in Egypt, Kabayel now feels the public perception has changed — and that more fans believe he can cause the Ukrainian serious problems.
Usyk still holds the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles, but his 11th-round stoppage of Verhoeven was far tougher than expected. Before that fight, Usyk had already beaten Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois twice each, but the version that struggled with Verhoeven looked more vulnerable than the champion fans were used to seeing.
“My opinion is that Usyk will not want to make the fight for me,” Kabayel told TalkSPORT. “I want to fight with Usyk.”
Kabayel believes Germany is ready for the fight and says it would be one of the biggest available matchups in the division. “So many people in Germany are waiting for this fight,” he said. “This is the biggest fight we can make right now for boxing. We can sell out a stadium.”
The reason for Kabayel’s confidence is clear: pressure and body work. He saw Verhoeven have success pushing Usyk back and believes he can do it even better. “I think I will pressure him and Usyk hates it to the body,” Kabayel said. “When Usyk was hit to the body by Rico, he hated it. So, I will have a gameplan. I think the people will now give me the respect and I know I can beat Usyk.”
Image Credit: DAZN