Rethinking heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk? At first the Ukrainian coldly ignored his mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel, now he is talking about a fight against the German – and praises Kabayel highly.
Heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk has hinted at a duel with Germany’s boxing star Agit Kabayel for the first time.
“Maybe I will fight Kabayel – maybe I won’t face Tyson Fury a third time and fight Kabayel instead,” Usyk told the Daily Mail.
Background: In a recent conversation with “The Ring”, Usyk listed three opponents he wanted to box against before his career ends: kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven, whom Usyk will meet on May 23rd in an absurd spectacle at the Pyramids of Giza; the winner of the WBO world championship fight between England’s Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois on May 9th; and his “friend” Tyson Fury, the “greedy belly.”
Video: Kabayel ready for Usyk: “Tell me where, I’m coming!”
Usyk did not mention Kabayel’s name – although the world association WBC recently asked the 39-year-old champion to defend the green-gold belt after the Verhoeven fight against the interim world champion from Wattenscheid.
Usyk: “Kabayel is a great fighter”
Kabayel responded in an exclusive interview with sport.de upset by Usyk’s statements. “I always respected Usyk for his athletic performance and said: ‘Hey, he doesn’t shy away from a challenge and is a man of his word.’ But he only cares about the money, everything else is uninteresting to him. “I’ve noticed that again,” criticized the 33-year-old. “How can he not name the number 1 in the rankings, his mandatory challenger? It’s just sad that he would rather fight Dubois or Fury a third time, even though he has already beaten them both twice.
According to Usyk, however, his three-fight plan is “not set in stone.” At the same time, the 39-year-old made it clear that he would not allow himself to be put under pressure by world associations and would decide who he would fight according to his own wishes. “God has his plan for me. I understand that Agit’s fans say: ‘You have to fight him, you have to fight him!’ But I don’t have to fight him.”
He has to “take care of my team, my children in my life. When it comes to fighting, I just work hard, as do my opponents. Maybe it’s possible that I fight against Agit. All I can say is that he’s a great fighter and very smart.”
Does Fury against Joshua open the door for Kabayel?
A door to the long-awaited World Cup opportunity against Usyk could actually open for Kabayel at the end of the year. Because: His ideal opponent Fury may have other plans than a trilogy with Usyk.
The “Gypsy King” will celebrate his ring comeback on April 11th in London against former Kabayel victim Arslanbek Makhmudov. Fury has already signaled his interest in a WBO world title fight against the winner of Dubois vs. Wardley in order to become world champion for a third time in his career. It would also be a wonderful way to usher in the big British blockbuster against Anthony Joshua.
Joshua trained with his former rival Usyk last week and even visited the world champion in Kiev. Reports had recently made the rounds that Fury and Joshua had agreed on a duel at the end of the year. AJ promoter Eddie Hearn denied it, but Fury emphasized once again on “Sky Sports”: “It’s still the biggest fight there is.”
