Agit Kabayel gets off canvas, knocks out Zhilei Zhang in six
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Agit Kabayel got dropped, but came back to knock Zhilei Zhang out in the sixth round.
Agit Kabayel continued his stunning march up the heavyweight ranks today, coming off the canvas in round five to knock out Zhilei Zhang in the sixth.
Kabayel (26-0, 18 KO) made it three straight noteworthy wins on cards in Riyadh, as he has now reached a pretty clear top five status in the hot and busy heavyweight division. The former European champion has come somewhat out of left field as a serious and dangerous contender, not only winning but doing so in destructive and entertaining fashion.
The win nets Kabayel the interim WBC heavyweight title.
The 41-year-old Zhang (27-3-1, 22 KO) started faster than normal in the first round, but Kabayel, 32, was able to weather that and start pouring on his now-trademark pressure attack, working the body and hastening the normal gassing of his enormous opponent.
Some beeves are petty, some beeves start small and linger, but the Nikola Jokic-Markieff Morris beef was different. It started when one giant shoved a slightly smaller giant really, really hard. It was quite shocking for me, a non-giant, to watch, and based on Markeiff Morris being out for 58 games with whiplash after the shove, it was pretty shocking for him as well. Now, consider the fact that both beef participants are extremely close with their brothers. And also that their brothers are known for shows of aggression and being strong and one used to be a professional MMA fighter. And you’ve got yourself a beefball with no filler, no biding agent, just beef.
Zhang did clip Kabayel in the fifth round, with the German hitting the canvas, but the round was otherwise controlled by Kabayel, and Zhang looked absolutely shot to bits in the sixth. With Kabayel continuing to batter away, the veteran Chinese southpaw simply withered and dropped to a knee, where he was counted out by referee Mark Lyson.
Kabayel has now put himself into serious consideration for just about any fight in the division, probably short of Oleksandr Usyk if only because Usyk has said he intends to fight just two more times, and more likely than not they’ll want bigger “name brand” opposition than Kabayel. But he’s on the radar for anyone else, this is a serious contender who has fought his way to that position.
As for Zhang, every fight is one closer to retirement, especially now that it’s quite clear he’s simply not going to be winning a world title beyond some sort of miracle. He’s dangerous as hell for about five or six rounds still, and if he catches you clean, he can knock out anyone, especially early. But the gas tank — which was never a strength — is gone and time is marching on, as it does for us all.
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Agit Kabayel leaves Zhilei Zhang gasping for air as he knocks out ‘Big Bang’ with sickening body shot
Fight Night Live – Beterbiev v Bivol 2
Agit Kabayel picked himself up off the canvas to stop Zhilei Zhang with a sickening body shot.
Zhang got off to a fast start, imposing himself early with a series of blistering combinations that snapped back Kabayel’s head.
Undeterred by the Chinese puncher’s spiteful shots, Kabayel went about disrupting Zhang’s tempo in the second and third stanzas by investing heavily in the body.
By the fourth round, his work began to pay dividends as Zhang started to slow down.
Gulping for air between punches, Zhang looked to be in trouble as Kabayel poured on the pressure, yet the 41-year-old picked out a peach of a left hand that sat his adversary down on the canvas in the fifth.
The German shook off the shot well and saw out the round before rebounding in the sixth to stop Zhang with a sickening body shot.
Kabayel’s sweeping blow to the liver sunk Zhang to his knees and left him gasping for air as the referee counted him out.
The victory improved Kabayel’s record to 26-0 and earned him the WBC ‘interim’ heavyweight title, while Zhang fell to 27-3-1.
Kabayel is now the No.1 ranked contender for WBC, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk with the former organisation.
The WBO are next up in the sanctioning body rotation system, although Kabayel could be ordered to face the full champion thereafter.
It marks a miraculous turnaround for Kabayel, who saw his career stagnate during his long reign as European heavyweight champion in the late 2010s and early 2020s.
The German is one of the fighters that has benefitted most from Saudi investment in boxing.
For several years he saw high-profile match-ups pass him by but under the Riyadh Season banner he has been thrust into the limelight.
Back-to-back destructive stoppage victories over Arslanbek Makhmudov and Frank Sanchez won him the favour of Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh and he is now well on his way to challenging for a world title.
Prior to their fight, Zhang was ranked No.4 by the Ring Magazine in boxing’s glamour division while Kabayel was placed one position below.
Kabayel is expected to leap above Zhang when the rankings are updated in a week or so and is up at the top with good company.
Joseph Parker is placed No.3, IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois is No.2, the seemingly retired Tyson Fury is No.1 while Usyk is the lineal heavyweight king.
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