A unification fight between Daniel Dubois and Agit Kabayel has emerged as one of the most interesting in the heavyweight division.
After flying relatively under the radar early in his career, Kabayel exploded onto the scene when Saudi Arabia began to play a significant part in the sport.
The 34-year-old from Germany impressed on the big stage and kept earning bigger opportunities, beating Arslanbek Makhmudov, Frank Sanchez and then Zhilei Zhang to become interim WBC champion.
When Oleksandr Usyk vacated the full title rather than face him as mandatory, Kabayel was upgraded and is now set to make the first defence of his title next month against Nelson Hysa.
Should he come through as expected, Kabayel has made no secret that he will then chase unifications, with fellow champions Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois both under the same promotional banner a lot Queensberry.
Dubois is currently in his second stint as heavyweight champion, having initially lost his IBF belt to Usyk but won the WBO against Fabio Warley – and defended it emphatically in a rematch – since.
Should the two champs meet, Tony Bellew said on the Fight Your Corner podcast that Kabayel being hurt before will be enough motivation fornth Brit to win.
“Because I’ve seen the progression Daniel’s made, I make him favourite against Kabayel. I make him favourite because I’ve seen Kabayel hurt, I’ve seen him on the floor.
“Daniel’s got such tunnel vision – he’s so one-track minded. You show Daniel [a video of] Agit Kabayel on the floor – going down, being hurt – and it’s done. [Dubois] will just keep going.”
Kabayel was knocked down by power-puncher Zhang when they fought in 2024, though fought on and stopped ‘Big Bang’ with a body shot in the very next round.
Dubois has said he is open to the fight, but is also targeting a rematch with Hrgovic – who is set to defend the IBF belt against mandatory Sanchez next – or the winner of Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua.
