At the Saudis’ opulent fistfight show, German heavyweight European champion Agit Kabayel impressively shows what boxing is all about. Little by little, blow by blow, he fells a huge Russian who was clearly the favorite beforehand – and can now hope for big fights.
“Skills pay the bills”, goes an old boxer saying. That means: You pay your bills with pugilist craftsmanship and not with uncouth brawling. After his triumphant trip to the desert, Agit Kabayel doesn’t have to worry about bills when he returns home to the Pott in Wattenscheid.
At the Saudi boxing show on December 23rd, staged as a “day of reckoning” with six heavyweight duels, the 31-year-old not only pocketed the first million dollar purse of his twelve-year professional career. Kabayel made a statement with a crystal-clear victory over the Russian Arslanbek Makhmudov, who was praised as a knockout monster.
Kabayel only needed four rounds to fell the bull-necked 1.98-meter behemoth. The German sent his opponent onto the boards a total of three times in the fourth round – Kabayel’s precise body hits knocked the wind out of Makhmudov’s massive body. After a liver hook from the European champion, the Russian lion grimaced in pain. The referee rightly stopped the unequal duel.
Kabayel remained undefeated in his 24th fight and celebrated the 16th early victory of his career. The man from the pot impressively marked his territory in Riyadh. The clear result surprised many viewers.
“I may have shocked the world. Out of ten guys, nine would have said that I would never win,” said Kabayel in the ring interview.
Boxing: Kabayel shows what fistfighting is all about
In fact, Makhmudov climbed into the ring at the “Kingdom Arena” in Riyadh as the favorite because of his stature alone. During the final PK, the 34-year-old, who lives in Canada, looked so gloomy and cracked his huge skull from left to right that many non-expert observers lost their breath. Wrapped in a black cloak, Makhmudov looked like a Sith Lord from “Star Wars” in the body of the comic book character “Hulk.”
When the boxers faced each other after the weigh-in, Kabayel, who is 1.91 meters tall and weighs 109.5 kilograms, seemed almost like a dwarf compared to his opponent, who weighed ten kilos more.
But: Boxing is not about size, not about big arms and evil looks. “Sweet Science” is about using boxing techniques to hit your opponent without being hit yourself. And Kabayel implemented this rule of thumb in Saudi Arabia as soberly as the miners in the Ruhr area once did their mine work. “The game plan is to box, be intelligent, turn your head on, don’t get involved in a fight,” the boxer said before the fight in an interview with ntv.de and sport.de said. He did that from the first gong.
European champion Kabayel can expect more big fights – and paydays
With his left lead hand, Kabayel controlled the distance, with uppercuts and, above all, his combinations to the body, he chopped the giant shorter round after round in the style of a fencing lumberjack. Skills pay the bills. The “boy from the pot” exposed Makhmudov as a “hype job”. He came to Riyadh undefeated and with 17 knockouts in 18 fights. He leaves the desert a beaten man who will not play a role in the heavyweight division for the foreseeable future.
Completely different Kabayel. For him, the victory should open more doors to big fights. In 2017 he had already boxed out a strong caliber with Dereck Chisora (who was not yet out of the woods at the time) thanks to his largely underestimated technique. Despite the success, his career did not get off the ground, even though he was repeatedly seen as a challenger for superstars Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in recent years.
A world championship fight is unlikely to be possible for Kabayel immediately, as the undefeated world champions Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will determine the only true champion of all boxing classes on February 17th and have already contractually agreed on a rematch. But: Kabayel should definitely have more financially strong fights against big names from the top 10.
The cash-strapped organizers from Saudi Arabia certainly already have the next superlative fistfight shows in mind. Kabayel delivered. He can come again. The German has been in business since December 23rd.
Martin Armbruster