Oleksandr Usyk has named his ideal final three fights, starting with Rico Verhoeven in May, followed by the winner of Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois and ending with a trilogy against a returning Tyson Fury.
Only the Verhoeven fight is secured — controversially for Usyk’s WBC heavyweight title – and the other match-ups must still be negotiated, but interim champion and mandatory challenger, Agit Kabayel, has taken serious issue with the list.
Speaking on Instagram, the German heavyweight said:
“My parents always told me to stay humble and respectful. But I can’t accept being ignored any longer. I deserve the title shot.”
In an interview with RTL/ntv and sport.de, Kabayel expanded, saying that Usyk’s plan proves that he is ‘only interested in money.’
“I have always respected Usyk greatly for his sporting achievements and said, ‘Hey, he doesn’t shy away from a challenge and is a man of his word.’ But he’s only interested in money; everything else is of no interest to him. I’ve noticed that again very clearly now.
“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.”
Kabayel – who proved to be a draw himself in his latest fight against Daniel Knyba – is well-deserving of a shot at the full world title, having beaten Arslanbek Makhmudov, Frank Sanchez and Zhilei Zhang to gain the WBC interim belt. Usyk has been mandated by the sanctioning body to face him after Verhoeven, but it appears that the Ukrainian is more likely to drop the belt, or lobby for an undisputed contest against the winner of Wardley and Dubois.
Usyk is not only at risk of losing the WBC belt, but the IBF and WBA, too. Neither organisation has commented on the Verhoeven bout, and could well decide to strip Usyk rather than go the WBC route to put their belt on the line, which has been met by extreme backlash from fans.