Agit Kabayel scored a third round stoppage against Damien Knyba in his homecoming fight at the Rudolf Weber-Arena, Oberhausen, and the heavyweight hype train rolls on.
After years relatively dormant, Kabayel burst back onto the scene with a win over undefeated Russian Arslanbek Makhmudov in 2023. He then took another heavyweight’s perfect record in Frank Sanchez, and lifted himself off the canvas to stop Zhilei Zhang in February of 2025 to win the WBC Interim belt.
This defence — his first fight in Germany since 2023 — saw him as a heavy favourite but was not without danger. Knyba, though untested at the top level, is 6′ 7″, in his physical prime and entered the ring with zero losses and everything to gain.
He started busy, swarming Kabayel and landing effectively, damaging the interim champ’s right eye within just two minutes. Knyba’s uppercut was the standout shot of the first round, and the reach disadvantage looked to be a tricky puzzle for Kabayel to solve.
The German settled into more of a rythym in the second, finding a home for his infamous body shots and taking the steam out of Knyba’s work. Kabayel opened a cut on the challenger in the third and snatched the momentum entirely, putting Knyba on shaky legs via a series of overhand rights in the final minute and not relenting until referee Mark Lyson stepped in to halt the action. Many will recognise it as an early stoppage, even if it did look inevitable.
What next for this German star?
When he asked the crowd who they would like to see him face, chants of ‘Usyk’ rang out. Kabayel confirmed the unified champion is who he wants.
“I wait so long for this title shot. I beat three monsters in Riyadh Season. Give me the world title fight. I’m ready. Really I’m ready. Let’s go.”
Manager Spencer Brown doubled down on the call out:
“Wherever you are, we’re ready. Come on.”
Oleksandr Usyk has been granted a voluntary defence by the WBC and is currently in negotiations with Deontay Wilder. Kabayel, unlikely to sit on his hands, is therefore frustratingly facing another defence of his interim title in the meantime.
