Carl Froch has weighed in on whether he wants to see Oleksandr Usyk take a rematch with Rico Verhoeven or a different challenge with Agit Kabayel.
Usyk remains the unified WBA, WBC and WBO world heavyweight champion after a close-run fight last weekend against the former kickboxing world champion Verhoeven.
The Dutchman did a fine job of putting the Ukrainian under pressure, winning multiple rounds before eventually getting caught in the eleventh round. After surviving the knockdown, referee Mark Lyson stopped the fight when Verhoeven was under another barrage on the ropes. Due to the controversial nature, there were immediate calls from the pair to do it all again.
Speaking on his own YouTube Channel, however, Froch suggested Usyk would be best to move on from Verhoeven and instead face off with his mandatory challenger.
“I’m not sure if I want to see the rematch to be honest. I’d like to see Usyk against Kabayel, but Rico certainly deserves a big fight. Maybe chuck him in with one of the others. Chuck him in with Fury or ‘AJ’. He’s just got 11 rounds there with Usyk and he’s given them a tough fight, hasn’t he. But let’s see what transpires now over the next couple of months. Usyk now needs to be busy. One maybe two fights maximum, just turn it in and retire the king he is.”
Kabayel has held the WBC interim heavyweight title since 2025, when he beat Zhilei Zhang, and has also knocked out Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov during his unbeaten run of 27 victories. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has now said this fight with Usyk must happen next.
