WBC interim heavyweight champion Agit Kabayel (27-0, 19 KOs) has publicly named Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Martin Bakole as targets after being omitted from unified champion Oleksandr Usyk’s stated three-fight plan to close out his career.
Kabayel, the WBC’s No. 1-ranked heavyweight, has grown vocal about his exclusion from the title picture since Usyk laid out a retirement roadmap that includes Rico Verhoeven on May 23 at the Pyramids of Giza, the winner of Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois, and a trilogy with Fury, potentially in 2027. The 33-year-old German does not appear anywhere in that sequence.
“My parents always told me to stay humble and respectful. But I can’t accept being ignored any longer. I deserve the title shot,” Kabayel said.
“How can he not name the number one in the rankings, his mandatory challenger? It’s just sad that he’d rather fight Dubois or Fury a third time, even though he’s already beaten them both twice.”
With the WBC path blocked, Kabayel and his team have turned their attention sideways, toward the division’s higher-profile available opponents.
Joshua: The Money Fight
Joshua (28-4) remains the division’s biggest commercial draw despite a turbulent stretch. The former two-time champion stopped Jake Paul in six rounds in December 2025 but was involved in a serious car crash in Nigeria just 10 days later that killed two of his teammates and left Joshua injured.
Promoter Eddie Hearn recently teased a summer 2026 return on social media. Kabayel has previously sparred with Joshua and has long expressed interest in a stadium fight, with Germany a preferred venue.
Hearn has indicated that Kabayel is a logical option for Joshua’s return, given that both fighters currently lack confirmed opponents. Kabayel, for his part, has kept the door open.
“He’s a big name. When the fight comes, I’m ready,” Kabayel said on BoxingScene.
Fury: Unfinished Business From 2020
Kabayel and Fury were in talks for a bout at the Royal Albert Hall in 2020 before the fight collapsed due to Deontay Wilder’s contractual arbitration. Fury is now ending his latest retirement and is scheduled to face Arslanbek Makhmudov on April 11.
If Fury wins that bout and passes a subsequent rankings test later in 2026, he moves directly into a third fight with Usyk, further shrinking the window for Kabayel to get his shot at either man. That timeline has added urgency to Kabayel’s public campaigning.
Queensberry Promotions boss Frank Warren, who represents Kabayel, has been direct about the situation.
“After [Egypt], he has to defend his WBC title against Agit Kabayel, who’s been very patient and active. He has to do that fight. If he doesn’t do it, then he has to vacate the title or he’ll be stripped,” Warren said.
Bakole: The Credibility Test
The situation with Martin Bakole (21-2-1) is different. In late 2024, the IBF ordered a final eliminator between Kabayel and Bakole, but Kabayel’s team withdrew from the purse bid, drawing sharp criticism from Bakole’s camp.
“Unfortunately, I’m hearing Agit Kabayel will be joining the long line of top fighters who don’t want to fight Martin. Real shame, as it would have been a good fight,” Bakole’s trainer Billy Nelson said at the time.
Bakole’s stock has dipped since then, with a stoppage loss to Joseph Parker and a majority draw against Efe Ajagba in May 2025. However, his reputation as the division’s most avoided contender means a Kabayel victory would carry weight at a time when the interim champion needs credibility fights to maintain pressure on the sanctioning bodies.
Vacating the Belt Is on the Table
Kabayel’s manager Spencer Brown has said the team may abandon the WBC path entirely if the logjam continues.
“Unfortunately, Agit wants to move on, and he wants to win a title. Whether that’s the WBC title, or if we have to give up the WBC and move toward another belt. He wants to win a world title,” Brown said.
Asked during an Instagram Q&A whether Usyk was avoiding him, Kabayel stopped short of calling it fear but did not hold back.
“I wouldn’t say a legend like him is scared. But somehow he is always avoiding my name when he talks about opponents. Maybe he doesn’t want his liver to get tested by my body shots,” Kabayel said.
Kabayel is rumoured to be defending his interim title against Nelson Hysa in Dortmund in mid-May, while Usyk faces Verhoeven six days later at Giza. What happens after that, whether Kabayel gets his mandatory shot, pivots to Joshua, or vacates the belt altogether, depends on answers that the WBC has so far declined to give.
