World Boxing Council (WBC) President Mauricio Sulaiman announced that his organization will sanction an interim heavyweight title fight between Zhang Zhilei and Agit Kabayel.
"The WBC has received a formal request to sanction this interim title fight and the WBC will agree to sanction it. Why? Because over the last few years we have done everything we can to put on the best, great fights in every weight class, especially the heavyweight division.
All along we have been absolutely clear and transparent that the WBC will not schedule mandatory defenses that will prevent the determination of an absolute champion, because in these fights the best fights are fought against the best available opponents.
There is no better fight than the Usyk - Fury fight. Since this fight will take place, and given the future possibilities, we agreed to have the second and third number of the ranking fight for the interim belt. That way they will stay active and the division will continue to have the best fights available," Suleiman told Sky Sports.
