Oleksandr Usyk is no longer completely shutting down the idea of a future fight with unbeaten German heavyweight Agit Kabayel, even after previously laying out a very different plan for the end of his career.
A new wrinkle has entered Oleksandr Usyk’s heavyweight roadmap. The unified champion said in a recent interview with Daily Mail that a fight with unbeaten German contender Agit Kabayel is now a possibility, even as Usyk prepares for a voluntary WBC title defense against kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven on May 23 in Giza, Egypt, with the pyramids as the backdrop.
That matters because the heavyweight division has been waiting on clarity from Usyk, who has spent the last stretch of his career cleaning out the elite names at the top. Kabayel, meanwhile, has become a rising name for American boxing fans paying closer attention to the sanctioning-body picture, and a matchup with Usyk would likely carry more competitive intrigue than some of the legacy-fight options previously floated.
Usyk had earlier mapped out his final three bouts as Verhoeven, the winner of Daniel Dubois vs. Fabio Wardley, and then a trilogy fight with Tyson Fury. Now, he sounds less committed to that script.
“Maybe I will fight Kabayel. Maybe we will change the plan — I will not fight Tyson, but Kabayel. It is just my plan, but I do not know what God’s plan is,” Usyk said. “I understand Agit’s fans, who say that I should fight him. But listen, I do not owe anybody anything. I have to live for my team and my children. Maybe the fight with Agit will happen.”
From a division standpoint, that shift is significant. If Usyk beats Verhoeven and then chooses Kabayel, it would elevate one of the sport’s unbeaten contenders into a true marquee event and reshape the queue around names like Dubois and Fury. If Kabayel gets the shot and pulls the upset, the entire post-Usyk era would begin overnight.
There is also the question of what Usyk still needs to prove. At this stage, every fight is about legacy management as much as titles. Kabayel would offer a fresher challenge, while Fury remains the bigger commercial name. For now, though, the immediate focus stays on Egypt, where Usyk is set to defend his WBC belt in one of the sport’s most unusual settings of the year. What comes after that may depend on whether he sticks to the old plan — or finally rewrites it.
