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\u201cNormally, I will call Mauricio and say, \u2018What is this?\u2019 But, I respect it, and I hope I\u2019m the next in the line.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think this is a good fight for the fighting fans. I think this is not for sports competition, I think this is for the fans. This is like a show fight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think, normally, he must fight with me, Usyk,\u201d said Kabayel to Boxingscene<\/a> about the Usyk vs. Verhoeven fight.<\/p>\n Agit Kabayel currently holds the WBC interim heavyweight title and had been viewed by many fans as the leading candidate to face Oleksandr Usyk before the WBC-sanctioned Saturday\u2019s fight against Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.<\/p>\n Kabayel also believes Usyk should have little trouble handling Verhoeven despite the unpredictability that comes with heavyweight boxing.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, this is boxing, this is heavyweight boxing,\u201d said Kabayel.<\/p>\n \u201cOne punch can change a fight, but we will see. This is a good fight for fans, but I think this is an easy night for Usyk.\u201d<\/p>\n Usyk recently outlined a possible three-fight plan that included Verhoeven, the winner of the Daniel Dubois vs. Fabio Wardley fight, and a trilogy clash with Tyson Fury before retirement. Kabayel\u2019s name was not part of that list, though he says he later heard Usyk mention him as a possible future opponent.<\/p>\n Saudi boxing financier Turki Alalshikh has also spoken about potentially staging Usyk vs. Kabayel in Germany later this year.<\/p>\n \u201cIf one guy can make this fight happen, I say it\u2019s Turki Alalshikh.\u201d<\/p>\n Robert Segal is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24 with more than a decade of experience covering fight news, previews, and analysis. Known for his straightforward reporting and ringside perspective, he delivers authoritative coverage of champions, contenders, and emerging talent worldwide.<\/p>\n Click here to subscribe to our FREE newsletter<\/a>Related Boxing News:<\/p>\n \t\t\tCategories Oleksandr Usyk<\/a> \t\t<\/p>\n Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb Oleksandr Usyk<\/a> \u00bb Agit Kabayel Calls Usyk-Rico Fight \u201cCrazy,\u201d Wants Next Shot<\/p>\n Last Updated on 2026\/05\/21 at 11:42 AM \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Agit Kabayel was surprised when the WBC approved Oleksandr Usyk\u2019s heavyweight title defense against kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-596771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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