Eddie Hearn has assessed how Agit Kabayel would get on in a fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
Kabayel is one of the rising stars of the heavyweight division. He has beaten Damian Knyba, Frank Sanchez, Zhilei Zhang and Arslanbek Makhmudov all by knockout in his last four contests and is now looking to push on to a world title challenge.
WBO ruler Fabio Wardley has his hands full with Daniel Dubois on May 9, while unified ruler Oleksandr Usyk is defending his belts against legendary kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza on May 23,
Speaking to The Stomping Ground, Hearn listed the men he thinks do and don’t deserve a shot at the two-time undisputed champion.
“Kabayel has earned a shot at the world title. Wardley Dubois is a really good, interesting fight. Who wants to see Uysk Dubois 3? No interest. If Wardley wins, I definitely think Wardley has earned the right to fight Usyk. Who wants to see Usyk Fury 3?
“The reality is, and you’ve seen from the Makmuhdov traction, people wanna see Fury Joshua. The only person really people wanna see Tyson Fury fight is Anthony Joshua. There’s a huge amount of narrative around ‘AJ’, but people wanna see ‘AJ’ fight Fury.
“Yes you can come back and have a fight but ultimately, people wanna see you in with Tyson Fury and we’ve got to make those types of fights.
“With Usyk, it will be interesting to see how long he goes on for. By the way, I don’t see Agit Kabayel beating up Oleksandr Usyk in a million years.”
Kabayel is currently the WBC interim champion and mandatory challenger. Although Usyk recently said he has just three fights left – Verhoeven, Fury and the winner of Dubois and Wardley – he has also said he will consider a fight with Kabayel in future.
