Agit Kabayel named WBC heavyweight champion after Usyk vacates; first German since Max Schmeling
The World Boxing Council awarded its heavyweight title to Germany's Agit Kabayel on Saturday after Oleksandr Usyk relinquished the belt, ending a 94-year wait for a German champion since Max Schmeling.
Usyk steps aside
Oleksandr Usyk announced on Friday that he would vacate all his heavyweight titles, a move that clears the path for the next generation. "I will lay down all the belts so that the guys who are lining up for them today can box for them," Usyk wrote on Instagram. The 39-year-old Ukrainian had unified the major sanctioning-body belts, but he already vacated the WBO strap in November 2025. The WBC acted swiftly: roughly 24 hours after Usyk's announcement, it named interim titleholder Agit Kabayel as the new world champion.
The interim holder steps up
Kabayel, a 33- or 34-year-old from Bochum, has held the WBC interim belt and defended it in January with a win over Poland's Damian Knyba in Oberhausen. He is unbeaten in 27 professional fights, 19 by knockout, and had repeatedly called for a mandatory shot at Usyk. The WBC had ordered the bout in February, but the matchup never materialised. Kabayel told ntv he was partly disappointed: "Of course it would have been nice. But I believe Usyk, at 39, is no longer looking for the sporting challenge."
The timeline of the belt's journey shows how Kabayel arrived at the title without a championship bout.
- Oleksandr Usyk vacates the WBO heavyweight title.
- Agit Kabayel defends the WBC interim belt against Damian Knyba in Oberhausen.
- The WBC orders a Kabayel vs. Usyk title fight.
- Usyk announces he is relinquishing all remaining heavyweight belts.
- The WBC names Kabayel as its new heavyweight world champion.
Reaction and legacy
"Words cannot describe what I am feeling right now," Kabayel wrote on Instagram, also referencing his Kurdish heritage. In a Bild interview he added, "I am incredibly proud to be the first German heavyweight world champion since Max Schmeling, succeeding him after 94 years. I have reached the goal of my dreams." The feat evokes Max Schmeling, the only other German to hold a heavyweight world title; he first won it in 1930. Kabayel joins a small group of fighters who have claimed a crown without a ring victory, a path also taken by Ken Norton and Lennox Lewis under similar circumstances.
What comes next
The newly crowned champion is expected to make a mandatory defence soon. The WBC rankings place Tyson Fury, Lawrence Okolie and Moses Itauma near the top, and any of them could be lined up as Kabayel's first challenger. Kabayel himself is undefeated and intends to prove he belongs among the division's elite: "I hope Germany is happy about this and sees in me a worthy successor to Max Schmeling."
