German heavyweight star Agit Kabayel is coming home for his next fight as he puts his chances of a WBC world title shot on the line.
The 33-year-old (26-0 with 18 wins inside distance) has stamped himself as a real threat to anybody in the sport’s marquee weight class by reeling off a string of impressive wins over vaunted fellow contenders in the past two years.
First, Kabayel burst the bubble of giant Russian Arslanbek Makhmudov in December 2023, and then followed up by blasting out Cuban slickster Frank Sanchez in May 2024. Most recently it was giant Chinese star Zhilei Zhang on the wrong end of a Kabayel knockout in February 2025.
The net result of those brilliant wins is Kabayel sitting pretty as the WBC interim heavyweight champion – meaning he is the mandatory challenger for the hallowed belt currently held by undisputed king Oleksandr Usyk.
Kabayel must now wait for his title shot, and preserve that position as WBC interim champion, every fight he takes will come with the risk that he could lose it all. Next up he will take in an intriguing matchup in Oberhausen, Germany on January 10, 2026 against unbeaten Pole Damian Knyba.
The 6ft 6ins colossus, known as the “Polish Hussar,” is does not have any big names on his resume to date, but this is the heavyweight division and everybody carries that one-punch threat. Knyba has a 17-0 pro ledger with 11 of those wins inside distance.
The oddsmakers definitely expect Kabayel to have an easier night than those trio of recent wins – he is the 1/10 favourite with Knyba a 6/1 underdog.
The heavyweight title picture in 2025
Kabayel is a key player in what is – as always – a complex heavyweight title picture.
The peerless Usyk – now 38 years old – is the undisputed champion for a second time following his impressive demolition job on Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in July. He holds the belts with all four major sanctioning bodies – the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO.
Usyk is also the Ring magazine champion, and carries the mythical moniker of ‘lineal champion’ (the man who beat the man).
It appears Usyk will next defend his title against British fairytale Fabio Wardley in his next fight. Wardley claimed the spot as WBO mandatory challenger by stopping Joseph Parker in an epic slugfest in London last month.
The WBC heavyweight rankings – as of November 2025 – look like this:
| Rank | Boxer |
| C | Oleksandr Usyk |
| IC | Agit Kabayel |
| 1 | Lawrence Okolie |
| 2 | Daniel Dubois |
| 3 | Anthony Joshua |
| 4 | Moses Itauma |
| 5 | Filip Hrgovic |
| 6 | Efe Ajagba |
| 7 | Martin Bakole |
| 8 | Frank Sanchez |
| 9 | Zhilei Zhang |
| 10 | Bakhodir Jalolov |
| 11 | Richard Torrez Jr |
| 12 | Guido Vianello |
| 13 | Deontay Wilder |
| 14 | Dereck Chisora |
| 15 | Jared Anderson |
