Agit Kabayel wants to take German boxing back to where it once was. One person who believes the “Liver King” can do that is ex-heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. The “Gypsy King” praises Kabayel highly in a documentary – the WBC interim champion in turn tells how he and Fury once hit each other on the marble.
Agit Kabayel’s career didn’t get off the ground for a long time, although the prize fighter from the Ruhr area was already making a name for himself years ago. In 2017, at the tender boxing age of 25, he beat former Klitschko challenger Derek Chisora on points in the fight for the European Championship title.
Despite the victory on a prominent stage in Monte Carlo, the hoped-for breakthrough did not materialize. It was not until the end of 2023 that Kabayel’s career turbocharged. In Saudi Arabia he chopped the huge Russian Arslanbek Makhmudov short and small with body hooks in four rounds – the “Liver King” was born.
It was also thanks to Tyson Fury that Kabayel was able to shine at the Saudi boxing show. “He was a big factor in the fight against Makhmudov coming about,” revealed Kabayel in the “DAZN” documentary “Agit Kabayel – Our World Champion”.
Video: Kabayel announcement: “Compete with the best in the world!”
Fury threw his name into the ring, said the man from Wattenscheid. “He said: ‘Let Arslanbek Makhmudov fight against Agit Kabayel.’ Because back then everyone was talking about Makhmudov.” The Russian, who was undefeated at the time, was considered a terror figure in the heavyweight division – before he met the turf fighter.
“Apart from a few Germans and Kurds, almost no one knew Agit back then,” Fury remembered the initial situation two years ago: “When there was a chance of getting him on the fight card in Riyadh, I suggested him. Everyone asked who he was, but I just said: ‘Trust me, he can fight.’ “Everyone thought Mahkumdov would knock him out in a few rounds, but I was convinced by Agit,” the Gypsy King reported.
Kabayel and Fury “really butted heads”
Fury warned that Kabayel should only be limited to his dreaded physical attacks. “He has very good boxing skills in general. His jab and his footwork are good,” the Englishman praised the WBC interim world champion: “I even taught him three-step footwork and how to move in the ring. He can box really well and not just hit the body.”
Meanwhile, Kabayel talked about how he and Fury once got together.
“I met him in 2016 when I was sparring in Rotterdam, in Holland for two weeks. And we really hit each other on the head. He really didn’t expect me to be so tough, he celebrated that.”
Fury hasn’t forgotten his first date with Kabayel in the ring either. “We got to know each other during this time together. And after that he often came over to England to train with us. During that time a friendship developed between us.”
Kabayel will get back into the ring on January 10th: In Oberhausen, the 33-year-old will defend his WBC interim title against the undefeated Pole Damian Knyba (live on DAZN pay-per-view).
The German is the mandatory challenger to heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk as “interim world champion” and is the Ukrainian’s next opponent in the rotation system of the world associations.