Tyson Fury’s US promoter, Bob Arum, has added a couple more names to the list of potential opponents for a September fight.
The WBC Champion is expected to re-enter undisputed negotiations with Oleksandr Usyk for December, but will, according to his team, fight before that in September.
With his fellow-champion ruled out, as well as domestic rival, Anthony Joshua, Fury has been linked with number three ranked Andy Ruiz Jr and some other fringe heavyweights like Demsey McKean and Jarrell Miller.
Speaking to IFL TV, the Arum introduced Martin Bakole and Agit Kabayel into the mix.
“There’s a whole list. You go down the list of contenders in these various organisations and pick one. This guy that beat Tony Yoka – [Martin Bakole] – he’s a good possibility. This Agit [Kabayel], whatever his name is, he would be a good opponent.”
Kabayel has fought once per year since 2018, and hasn’t been tested at world level in some time. He is the number 13 ranked contender within the WBC, remains undefeated and is coming off a third round knockout of Croatia’s Agron Smakici in March.
Bakole will be the more accepted of the pair when it comes to fan reaction. He’s number seven in the rankings, has one loss on his record to Michael Hunter and had an impressive win over Tony Yoka last year in Paris.
Having inked a promotional deal with BOXXER and Sky Sports, Bakole has some name recognition in Fury’s home country. He has been branded the ‘most avoided heavyweight’ by his new promoter, so this may just put that to the test.
Arum said that the decision would ultimately fall to Fury’s UK promotional side, namely Frank Warren’s Queensberry.
“There are a lot of good opponents, but that’s for Frank Warren and George Warren to sort out with Tyson – which I think they’ll be doing early next week.”
With the September date in mind, an announcement is expected relatively soon.