{"id":622458,"date":"2026-06-05T10:24:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T10:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/622458\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T10:24:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T10:24:07","slug":"derek-chisora-makes-ko-prediction-for-usyk-vs-agit-kabayel-after-verhoeven-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/622458\/","title":{"rendered":"Derek Chisora makes KO prediction for Usyk vs Agit Kabayel after Verhoeven performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Derek Chisora has described the WBC-ordered clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Agit Kabayel as an \u201ceasy fight\u201d, believing that one man would win inside eight or 10 rounds.<\/p>\n

Kabayel has reigned as WBC \u2018interim\u2019 champion since February 2025, back when he climbed off the canvas to stop Zhilei Zhang with a destructive sixth-round body onslaught.<\/p>\n

Prior to that, the German contender had halted Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov in similar fashion, while his last outing resulted in a third-round finish over Damian Knyba in January.<\/p>\n

As a result, Kabayel has placed himself in the leading position to challenge Usyk, with the WBC having now ordered their heavyweight contest<\/a> for the full world title.<\/p>\n

Usyk successfully defended his WBC and WBA belts, while also retaining his IBF title, with an 11th-round stoppage of Rico Verhoeven last month.<\/a><\/p>\n

His victory came in somewhat controversial fashion, however, as referee Mark Lyson waved Verhoeven off at the sound of the bell, shortly after the former kickboxer had risen from a heavy knockdown.<\/p>\n

Many believe the Dutchman, given his success in the previous rounds, should have at least been given the opportunity to enter the final frame.<\/p>\n

With Usyk emerging triumphant, though, it now seems that Kabayel is his most likely option, rather than an immediate rematch with Verhoeven.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Daily Mail Boxing<\/a>, heavyweight veteran Chisora suggested that Kabayel also represents the path of least resistance for the 39-year-old, even despite the unified champion not looking his best against Verhoeven.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe Usyk should take the fight with Kabayel, because it\u2019s an easy fight. Kabayel\u2019s not as fit as he thinks he is \u2013 I think Usyk wins that fight in less than eight or 10 [rounds].<\/p>\n

\u201c[Kabayel] ain\u2019t the bogeyman. He\u2019s knocked out a couple of people with body shots \u2013 great \u2013 but when you\u2019re fighting an elite fighter, it\u2019s totally different.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll sell it in Germany, but it\u2019s not like the whole world is going to stand still and watch that fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Kabayel drew a notable crowd in Germany, where he remained unbeaten against Knyba, while a wider audience is perhaps less familiar with the 33-year-old. He now awaits a decision from Team Usyk, and will be upgraded to full champion if the order is not followed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Derek Chisora has described the WBC-ordered clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Agit Kabayel as an \u201ceasy fight\u201d, believing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-622458","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\/622458","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=622458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}