WBC makes Agit Kabayel champion; Eddie Hearn talks Oleksandr Usyk's potential final opponent, Zuffa Boxing title
The WBC has made a major move by elevating Agit Kabayel as its heavyweight champion. Meanwhile, Eddie Hearn has named Oleksandr Usyk's possible farewell opponent, whilst addressing his likelihood of fighting for a Zuffa Boxing belt.
Agit Kabayel and Oleksandr Usyk's paths seem to have diverged to a great extent.
Kabayel has now been promoted by the WBC. The German fighter of Kurdish descent has been elevated from WBC interim heavyweight champion status and has been crowned as the new WBC heavyweight champion.
The significant development has come after Ukraine's Usyk vacated his WBA (Super), WBC, and IBF heavyweight titles earlier this week. "The Cat" also announced that he'll compete in his final professional boxing match next. Apparently, he'd ideally like to end his career with the said fight being held in the United States of America.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has now suggested that Usyk's farewell fight inside the squared circle could see him take on former WBC heavyweight titlist, America's Deontay Wilder. Also, Hearn implied that the Ukrainian could possibly compete for a Zuffa Boxing title.
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Agit Kabayel fails to materialize, "Bodysnatcher" is declared the WBC heavyweight champion
Agit Kabayel and Oleksandr Usyk seemed to be on a collision course for quite some time. Nevertheless, Usyk instead fought kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven in May, beating the Dutch fighter via a controversial 11th-round TKO.
Some fans and experts argued that Verhoeven was comfortably outpointing Usyk and was wronged by an early stoppage by the referee. They also accused the judges of bias against Verhoeven and scoring it more favorably for Usyk because the former was a boxing 'outsider.'
On that note, the belief was that Usyk could face Verhoeven in an immediate rematch and later fight Kabayel in Germany. Regardless, Usyk has now vacated three of the 'big four' titles he held at heavyweight, while the fourth (WBO) heavyweight belt has belonged to Daniel Dubois for a while.
Speaking of which, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman took to X a few hours ago and announced that he, alongside a few WBC board members, partook in a Zoom call with Agit Kabayel and Queensberry Promotions' CEO George Warren and Kabayel's manager Spencer Brown.
The meeting was followed by the official revelation that Kabayel has been promoted to become the new WBC heavyweight champion.
I just finished an incredibly sensitive Zoom video call con AGIT Kabayel, George Warren, Spencer Brown and some WBC board members in have confirmed that AGIT is the WBC Heavyweight champion of the world as per the WBC board of governors voting. Congratulations champ!@WBCBoxing… pic.twitter.com/78MGM4qlYq
— Mauricio Sulaiman (@wbcmoro) June 27, 2026
Eddie Hearn names Deontay Wilder as Oleksandr Usyk's potential final boxing opponent, feels the Ukrainian could fight for Zuffa Boxing title
During the Xander Zayas vs. Jaron "Boots" Ennis boxing showdown's post-match press conference from a few hours ago, Matchroom Sport's Eddie Hearn was asked about Oleksandr Usyk's announcement of vacating his titles and his "last dance" boxing match.
Hearn indicated that he felt Usyk could have rematched Verhoeven and righted the debacle from their first encounter. He added, however, that the veteran pugilist deserves to circumvent the rigmarole that comes with defending world titles -- such as facing mandatory challengers, adhering to the deadlines of negotiations and purse bids, his possible athletic decline, etc.
Hearn stated, "He's earned the right to do whatever he wants. So he's going to fight (Deontay) Wilder next, I believe. And that's just the fight that he wants to take. He'll just go to all bidders, and he'll say, 'Where's the most amount of money I can get for that fight?' And that'll be him done."
Furthermore, Hearn, who's been at loggerheads with Zuffa Boxing's founder and UFC CEO-cum-president Dana White, speculated that Usyk could be headed into a Zuffa Boxing title fight.
The British boxing promoter said, "Whatever fight Usyk's in next is not a world heavyweight championship fight. Maybe it's for a Zuffa (Boxing) belt, or something like that."
Watch Eddie Hearn discuss the Oleksandr Usyk situation below (*comments at the 26:20 and 35:20-minute marks of the video):
