Kabayel wants to prove the boxing world wrong

After many years in the second row, boxing pro Agit Kabayel is finally stepping onto the big stage. The German heavyweight will step into the ring at the Saudis' mega fight night. It is the chance for more big fights.

A certain Sese Seko Mobutu knew that heavyweight boxing, with its "modern" gladiators, is an excellent way to present autocratic rule to the whole world in all its glory long before the term "sportswashing" started doing the rounds. The bloodthirsty dictator of "Zaire" (now DR Congo) put ten million dollars on the table in 1974 to make a fight in the jungle appealing to Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.

Less than 50 years later, Saudi Arabia is the world's leading sports laundry. The kingdom, ruled absolutistically by the ruling al-Saud family, is conducting an unprecedented "charm offensive" in order to present itself as a gentle giant in the Persian Gulf. Soft power thanks to sports megastars and high-class events is the (foreign policy) strategy with which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tasked his "entertainment" minister Turki al-Sheikh. The means to an end is the bulging Saudi state fund, which is being tapped into so that top-class sport can take place between Riyadh and Jeddah in future.

Soccer stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar have already answered the call of the desert, as have golf stars such as John Rahm. In the prize fight, Saudi Arabia is poised to replace Las Vegas as the epicenter of heavyweight boxing. Despite the dollar power of its casinos, even the gambling Babylon of the United States can hardly compete with the financial strength of the Saudis. "They are aiming to establish Saudi Arabia, and Riyadh in particular, as a global center for boxing and great entertainment," Bob Arum recently commented on the Gulf monarchs' pugilistic plans. The US promoter is 93 years old and has been in the business since Ali's time.

Furious finale to the "Riyadh Season"

Al-Sheikh's "passion" for boxing and his "financial support" had "paved the way for blockbuster fights that were once mere aspirations", said Arum. "When there's a lot of money on the table, animosities dissolve and competing promoters work together for lucrative events."

One example: On February 17, undefeated world champions Tyson Fury (WBC) and Oleksandr Usyk (WBA, IBF, WBO) will meet in Riyadh. For the first time since 1999, all recognized heavyweight world championship belts are at stake. In the spring, the fight for the one and only crown was still on the rocks. London and its legendary Wembley Stadium did not have enough financial clout.

However, the preliminary climax of heavyweight Saudi politics will take place on Saturday. Twelve heavyweights will climb into the ring at the "Kingdom Arena" in Riyadh, with pound-for-pound star Dmitry Bivol and cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia as supporting acts. In the main fights, superstars Anthony Joshua (England) and Deontay Wilder (USA) will compete to prepare the next cracker. If they win their fights (Joshua against the Swede Otto Wallin, Wilder against Joseph Parker from New Zealand), the long-awaited British-American clash will take place on March 9. Naturally in the Saudi capital - as the final furioso of the "Riyadh Season", which Fury and MMA star Francis Ngannou opened with their bizarre fight at the end of October and which ends on March 11 with the start of Ramadan. Panem et circenses. Bread and circus games in a new dimension.

Victory more important than the money

"I think this is the biggest event we've had in boxing in the last 20 years. Joshua, Wilder, Bivol on one fight card. Every fight on this evening could be the main fight at another event," says Agit Kabayel in an interview with ntv.de and sport.de about the boxing extravaganza on the day before Christmas Eve. The European champion from Bochum is one of the twelve "tribes" chosen to put on a great show on December 23rd, fighting against Arslanbek Makhmudov from Russia, who lives in Canada.

Kabayel has been dreaming of big fights for years. Three years ago, he had already signed a contract for a duel with WBC champion Fury before the coronavirus intervened. Even after that, Kabayel was repeatedly talked about as a possible challenger to the "Gypsy King", but never got the chance. Over the summer, he was then in "firm negotiations" with Joshua about a possible duel in the winter, Kabayel reveals. Then came the Saudis with their opulent fight night - and an offer that the prizefighter could not refuse. "Sometimes it's like that in life: The good Lord has written everything so that some fights are meant to come at just the right time and now the time has come," says the 31-year-old. For the first time in his twelve-year professional career, he earned a million-dollar purse.

Above all, however, Kabayel is getting the biggest possible stage to present himself. "I would even give up money to come out of the fight as the winner," asserts the "boy from the Ruhr". Success against the unbeaten Makhmudov would open the door to further paydays.

"The biggest task of my career"

However, Kabayel will have to clear a veritable block out of the way. Makhmudov - 1.97 meters tall and weighing 119 kilograms - comes to Riyadh with the recommendation of 17 knockouts in 18 fights. Kabayel calls the man with the huge neck, whose square head feels like it could fit two "ordinary" human skulls, "extremely dangerous". Many heavyweights have avoided Makhmudov's "fearful opponent", Kabayel claims. The Russian "Lion", staged as a knockout machine, was "the biggest task of my career".

But that also applies "the other way round", emphasizes the "Ruhrpott boy". Mahmudov has never been in the ring against a boxer of his class. In fact, there are hardly any top-class fighters in the 34-year-old's fight record. He did, however, defeat former world title challenger Carlos Takam in 2022. However, the usual knockout failed to materialize in his first endurance test, with Mahmudov winning on the scorecards after ten rounds.

The fight in Riyadh against Kabayel is also scheduled for ten rounds and not the full distance of twelve rounds. "He hasn't often been in the sixth or seventh round in his career. I think his promoter and the organizers were smart that the fight is only ten rounds. I'm fit for twelve or 15 rounds," says Kabayel, who has already gone "all twelve" four times in his career and has knocked out significantly more rounds (114) than short-worker Makhmudov (42).

"I will prove many people wrong"

The fact that he opens the Saudis' boxing show as a slight underdog due to his physical disadvantages (Kabayel measures 1.91 meters and weighs 109.5 kilos) does not bother the German. "I think we will shock the world on December 23. I think a lot of people really underestimate what I can do. I will prove many people wrong on that day." Kabayel reports that he and his trainer Sükrü Aksu have prepared conscientiously in Düsseldorf. He does not want to make any big predictions about the course of the fight, "the game plan is to box, be intelligent, switch on your head and not get involved in a battle".

Kabayel had just such a fight on March 4 in his home town of Bochum. In front of a raucous crowd of 4,000 at the RuhrCongress, he beat Croatian Agron Smaikic by technical knockout in a unique three-round fight to win the European Championship belt for the second time. It was a victory that hung by a thread. In the second round, Kabayel toppled into the ropes after a series of punches from the powerful southpaw and was counted out by the referee. The favorite was on shaky ground and on the verge of a cliff. Kabayel, however, proved he could take it. Smakici tired himself out on the chin of the "pot colossus". Kabayel hit back in round two, and in the third he closed the bag with a relentless fist punch.

Payday on the eve of Christmas Eve

"At heavyweight, one punch can change the whole course of events. It was also a huge experience for me to be in that situation, show character, come back and turn the fight around," the Bochum native looks back. Kabayel knows that too many such "shootouts" are not beneficial. Against Makhmudov, his own punch resistance should only support the fist skills honed in the training camp, if at all. The motto is to outbox the slower giant - even if he is of course prepared for another "battle", as Kabayel emphasizes.

Kabayel proved that he can stand his ground when it counts against Smakici six years ago. At the Casino de Monte Carlo on November 4, 2017, he defended his European Championship title against the clearly favored Brit Dereck Chisora over twelve rounds on points. With his success on the princely stage, Kabayel announced his ambitions to have a say in the top heavyweight division. The victory could have given his career a boost. However, the big fights he had hoped for failed to materialize in the years that followed. Until now. On Saturday evening, the boxing world will be watching Agit Kabayel. Saudi Arabia has made sure of that.

"My job is that this is not a one-off opportunity. I think I've belonged up there for a long time, but unfortunately it hasn't happened yet," says the German heavyweight hopeful: "On December 23, we'll see whether we've done our homework well or not."

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After securing his spot in the Saudi Arabia's mega fight night, Agit Kabayel aims to demonstrate his prowess in boxing against challenging opponents. With Saudi Arabia emerging as the epicenter of heavyweight boxing, Kabayel sees this as an opportunity to prove his worth on the global stage.

Source: www.ntv.de