The Bochum-born boxer is set to take centre stage. He will face an Albanian opponent.
A stadium rather than an arena, Düsseldorf rather than Oberhausen: German world boxing champion Agit Kabayel is set to take centre stage for his first title defence. As the streaming provider DAZN announced on Thursday in conjunction with promoter Queensberry, the 34-year-old heavyweight will face the undefeated Albanian Nelson Hysa (42) on 28 November at Düsseldorf’s football stadium.
Kabayel will then step into the ring at the Merkur Spiel-Arena for the first time as WBC champion in front of over 50,000 spectators and aims to successfully defend his belt.
“Even as a child, a world title fight in a stadium was my biggest dream. This proves that no matter where you come from, hard work makes dreams come true,” Kabayel is quoted as saying in a statement. The Bochum-born boxer was declared world champion by the World Boxing Council (WBC) in June after the Ukrainian triple champion Alexander Usyk relinquished his titles. Prior to that, Kabayel had held the title as WBC interim champion. Kabayel remains undefeated in 27 fights. His long-term goal is to unify all four heavyweight belts.
It had most recently been announced that Kabayel would fight at the Rudolf-Weber-Arena in Oberhausen, as he did in his previous bout in January against the Pole Damian Knyba. The search for an opponent for his first title defence had proved difficult, with Hysa repeatedly putting himself forward as a contender.
Following public war of words and accusations from both camps, the fight – which at one point looked set to fall through – is now going ahead after all and has taken on added drama. “He challenged me in a somewhat disrespectful manner to secure this fight. But now he’s getting his chance. On 28 November, I’ll show him that there are different levels in this sport,” said Kabayel.
Kabayel is the first German heavyweight world champion since the iconic Max Schmeling (1930 to 1932). The Düsseldorf stadium also hosted the most recent heavyweight world title fight on German soil: on 28 November 2015 – exactly eleven years to the day before Kabayel’s planned fight – Wladimir Klitschko lost his titles to the British boxer Tyson Fury.
