Oleksandr Usyk has many different fighters calling him out as he continues to stay away from the spotlight following his most recent win.
The Ukrainian great has been rather quiet since his fifth round KO over Daniel Dubois back in August. With that impressive win – his second over Dubois to add to a pair of victories over Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua – he became history’s first-ever two-time undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era.
Given that he remains unbeaten as a professional, has an Olympic Gold medal from the London Games in 2012 and was also the undisputed cruiserweight champion back in 2018, he has very much completed boxing and is now approaching 40-years-old.
All those reasons are likely why he is taking time over choosing his next move. One option is to defend his WBO strap against newly-anointed mandatory challengers Fabio Wardley, another is a trilogy with Fury next year, while a third has now emerged with a challenge against well-ranked contender Agit Kabayel.
Speaking to BoxNation, Kabayel was asked if he was ready to fight Usyk this coming summer.
“Why not? I have so much support in Germany and in Germany, also we have so many Ukrainian people it’s easy to fill the stadium with this fight. My last performance was very good. When Usyk accepts, I’m ready.”
Kabayel is unbeaten in 26 contests and has knocked out his last five opponents, including the well-rated trio of Arslanbek Makhmudov, Frank Sanchez and most recently Zhilei Zhang in February, so he is one of the form men in the division.
He returns to action in Germany in January when he faces fellow unbeaten fighter Damian Knyba, where a victory could indeed earn Kabayel a future shot at Usyk.
