# Agit Kabayel

Agit Kabayel (born 23 September 1992) is a German professional boxer. He has held the World Boxing Council (WBC) interim heavyweight title since February 2025. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the European title twice between 2017 and 2024.
As of February 2025, Kabayel is ranked as the world's third-best active heavyweight by BoxRec and fourth by The Ring.

## Professional career
### European champion

Kabayel compiled a perfect record of 15–0 before winning the vacant European heavyweight title with a unanimous decision victory against Herve Hubeaux on 24 February 2017 in Cologne, Germany.
In his next fight, Kabayel defended his European heavyweight title against former WBC world title challenger Derek Chisora at the Casino de Monte Carlo Salle Medcin in Monte Carlo, Monaco on 4 November 2017. Chisora was ranked #8 by the WBC at the time. In a largely low-key affair, Kabayel outboxed his opponent to a majority decision victory. The judges' scorecards read 115–113, 115–114, 114–114 in Kabayel's favour, handing Chisora his 8th professional loss. Chisora started the fight slow, remaining patient. He became more active after round 6, but failed to bustle the attack on Kabayel, who moved well with his feet. Kabayel also used quick combinations and jabs to win many of the rounds.
On 2 March 2019, Kabayel beat Andriy Rudenko by unanimous decision in a 12 round contest.

### Rise up the ranks

On 18 July 2020, Kabayel beat Evgenios Lazaridis by unanimous decision in their 10 round contest to win the vacant WBA Continental heavyweight title. The scorecards read 98–92, 100–90, 99–91 in favour of Kabayel.
In November 2020, it was revealed that Kabayel was in talks to challenge undefeated WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on 5 December 2020 at the Royal Albert Hall, London, and that he had been sent a contract by Fury's promoter Frank Warren. However, the fight was ultimately cancelled, due to complications with Fury's contractual disputes with former WBC champion Deontay Wilder regarding a potential trilogy fight between them.
On 5 June 2021, Kabayel returned to the ring to face former WBC title challenger Kevin Johnson. He retained his WBA Continental title and undefeated record with a wide unanimous decision, with scores of 118–111, 118–111, and 119–110 in his favour. Kabayel next faced Pavel Sour on 14 May 2022. He won the fight by a first-round technical knockout.
On 23 December 2023, Kabayel faced undefeated prospect Arslanbek Makhmudov in the Day of Reckoning event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Entering the bout as the underdog, Kabayel produced a surprise upset, knocking Makhmudov down three times en route to a fourth round technical knockout victory.
On May 18, 2024, Agit Kabayel faced the undefeated Cuban contender Frank Sánchez at the Ring of Fire event in the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The bout served as a WBC eliminator, positioning the winner as a mandatory challenger for the WBC heavyweight world title. Entering as the underdog, Kabayel delivered a commanding performance, employing strategic body shots and combinations to dominate the fight. In the seventh round, he knocked Sánchez down twice, leading to a knockout victory.
On February 22, 2025, Agit Kabayel faced Zhilei Zhang at the The Last Crescendo event in The Venue Riyadh Season in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the WBC interim heavyweight title. Despite being knocked down in the fifth round, Kabayel secured a knockout victory in the sixth round with a powerful liver shot that left Zhang unable to continue. This win improved Kabayel's record to 26-0 and positioned him as the number one contender for the WBC title.

## Personal life

Kabayel currently resides in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. His parents are Kurdish of origin from Pazarcık, in the Turkish province of Kahramanmaraş. His cousin is KC Rebell, a German rapper of Kurdish origin.

## Professional boxing record

| 26 fights | 26 wins | 0 losses |
| By knockout | 18 | 0 |
| By decision | 8 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 26 | Win | 26–0 | Zhilei Zhang | KO | 6 (12), 2:29 | Feb 22, 2025 | The Venue Riyadh Season, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Won vacant WBC interim heavyweight title |
| 25 | Win | 25–0 | Frank Sánchez | KO | 7 (12), 2:29 | 18 May 2024 | Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Won WBC Continental Americas and WBO-NABO heavyweight titles |
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Arslanbek Makhmudov | TKO | 4 (10), 2:03 | 23 Dec 2023 | Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Won WBC-NABF and WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight titles |
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Agron Smakici | TKO | 3 (12), 2:37 | 4 Mar 2023 | RuhrCongress, Bochum, Germany | Won vacant European heavyweight title |
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Pavel Sour | TKO | 1 (8), 1:50 | 14 May 2022 | Seebühne, Magdeburg, Germany | |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Kevin Johnson | UD | 12 | 5 Jun 2021 | Seebühne, Magdeburg, Germany | Retained WBA Continental heavyweight title |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Evgenios Lazaridis | UD | 10 | 18 Jul 2020 | Seebühne, Magdeburg, Germany | Won vacant WBA Continental heavyweight title |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Andriy Rudenko | UD | 12 | 2 Mar 2019 | Maritim Hotel, Magdeburg, Germany | Retained European heavyweight title |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Miljan Rovcanin | TKO | 3 (12), 2:25 | 21 Apr 2018 | Estrel Berlin Convention Hall II, Berlin, Germany | Retained European heavyweight title |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Derek Chisora | MD | 12 | 4 Nov 2017 | Casino de Salle Médecin, Monte Carlo, Monaco | Retained European heavyweight title |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Herve Hubeaux | UD | 12 | 24 Feb 2017 | Maritim Hotel, Magdeburg, Germany | Won vacant European heavyweight title |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Christian Lewandowski | KO | 7 (12), 0:20 | 4 Jun 2016 | Seebühne, Magdeburg, Germany | Won vacant European Union heavyweight title |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Lawrence Tauasa | TKO | 3 (8), 2:29 | 9 Jan 2016 | Maritim proArte Hotel, Berlin, Germany | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Shalva Jomardashvili | KO | 1 (8), 1:27 | 5 Dec 2015 | Saarlandhalle, Saarbrücken, Germany | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Maksym Pedyura | TKO | 2 (8) | 17 Oct 2015 | Dm-Arena, Karlsruhe, Germany | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Artsiom Charniakevich | TKO | 3 (10) | 14 Dec 2014 | Maritim Hotel Köln, Cologne, Germany | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Gbenga Oloukun | SD | 10 | 22 Mar 2014 | Atatürk Spor Salonu, Tekirdağ, Turkey | Won vacant WBC Mediterranean heavyweight title |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Wladimir Letr | KO | 1 (6), 0:12 | 1 Feb 2014 | Hala Okrąglak, Opole, Poland | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Pavel Siska | TKO | 2 (8), 2:05 | 15 Dec 2013 | Docks, Hamburg, Germany | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Alexander Kahl | TKO | 1 (6), 1:21 | 27 Sep 2013 | Atatürk Spor Salonu, Tekirdağ, Turkey | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Engin Solmaz | TKO | 2 (6), 1:42 | 27 Jul 2013 | Kugelbake-Halle, Cuxhaven, Germany | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Ivan Ćirković | TKO | 2 (6), 2:20 | 6 Apr 2013 | SPC Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Waldemar Pahl | PTS | 4 | 2 Jun 2012 | Kolpinghaus Beckum, Beckum, Germany | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Waldemar Pahl | TKO | 3 (4), 1:50 | 30 Mar 2012 | Maritim Hotel Köln, Cologne, Germany | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Selcuk Dinc | PTS | 4 | 23 Jul 2011 | Tai-Kien Gym, Aachen, Germany | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Yeton Abdullah | TKO | 4 (4) | 23 Jun 2011 | Butan Gym, Wuppertal, Germany | |