Agit Kabayel produced a virtuoso performance to stun Frank Sanchez and become the mandatory contender for the WBC world heavyweight title.
The unbeaten German (25-0 with 17 inside distance) executed an absolutely perfect gameplan to systematically break down Sanchez inside seven rounds on the Fury vs Usyk undercard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Last December Kabayel had impressed in defusing the threat posed by the massive unbeaten Russian Arslanbek Makhmudov, and he repeated the trick here with another terrific performance to clinch another upset win.
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He set a relentless pace to have Sanchez on the back foot virtually from the opening bell, and mixed in crisp shots to both body and head to wear down the slick Cuban (now 24-1). The end came in Round 7 with two knockdowns from body shots, the second of which Sanchez could not recover from.
Round-by-round analysis
Kabayel spent the first round on the front foot trying to establish control while Sanchez inched backwards in a bid to give himself the space to box smartly off the back foot. It was the Cuban who landed the classier shots, in particular a nice combination and then a lovely left hook hitting home. It was a tough session to score but Sanchez perhaps edged it with those classy counters.
The second was much better from Kabayel, who started early by landing a lovely right uppercut and a brutal left hook to the body. For some reason Sanchez laid on the ropes, inviting the pressure, and he paid the price by taking more body shots. Frank did land a couple of nice right hands off the back foot to show he still possessed that extra class, but it likely wasn’t enough to take the round.
Round 3 provided more of the same as Kabayel really grew into the fight – showing a really solid style and mixing his attacks to the head and body. The highlight of the round was a lovely two-punch combination which hurt Sanchez. Frank was clearly not enjoying the pressure tactics employed by Kabayel, being forced to fight off the ropes and backpedal constantly.
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Sanchez began the fourth in more promising style as he tried to hit and move. But pretty soon the Cuban was again rooted to the ropes as Kabayel really closed off the ring beautifully and walked down his opponent. Again he was setting up overhand rights with consistent body attacks, using lovely strategy to control the fight.
The pace was relentless again from Kabayel in the fifth, and Sanchez appeared to be hating every second of it. An uppercut thudded off Sanchez’s chin early in the round, and then another cracking shot stiffened the Cuban’s legs late in the session. It was brilliant stuff from the unbeaten German, who was really executing the perfect gameplan here.
It was a familiar script in Round 6 as Kabayel produced a flawless three minutes. The pace was unrelenting and the punches crisp as he mixed his attacks beautifully. A body shot had the Cuban gasping for air and tiring visibly as he grew more dispirited. Those classy counters from Sanchez were becoming sparser by the minute. Advantage Agit at the halfway stage, and very much so.
The end came in the seventh with another stunning session from Kabayel as he closed the show in quite brilliant style. It was again attacks to the body which brought about the end of Sanchez. First a right and then a left hook to the body sent Frank to the canvas for an eight count. He would rise again but soon after a left jab to the ribs put him down again, and this time he failed to beat the count.
Kabayel is now the mandatory contender for the WBC heavyweight title currently held by Tyson Fury, and while he may have to wait a while for that shot, he would be a worthy foe.
Kabayel vs Sanchez result
Kabayel wins by KO after 2minutes and 33 seconds of Round 7.
