CONGRATULATIONS TO KABAYEL

AGIT KABAYEL HAS been declared WBC heavyweight champion of the world following previously unified champion Oleksandr Usyk relinquishing his titles.

The 33-year-old German star was holder of the WBC Interim world title, which he won with a stoppage defeat of Zhilei Zhang in February of last year and successfully defended with a third round success over Damian Knyba in Oberhausen in January.

His Interim title status secured him a direct challenge to Usyk or, in the event of the Ukrainian vacating, being elevated to full champion.

On Friday, Usyk made public his decision to vacate his three belts - the WBC, IBF and WBA - with the WBC later confirming that Kabayel is now holder of the WBC world championship.

Kabayel has made history for his nation in becoming the first German world heavyweight champion since Max Schmeling back in 1932.

Undefeated in 27 professional fights, the former European champion now joins his Queensberry comrade Daniel Dubois in holding a world heavyweight title.

“First of all, our congratulations and best wishes go to Agit,” said Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren. “Back in January, ahead of our show in Oberhausen, we kept saying that ‘boxing is back in Germany’ and we weren’t wrong. Now it is back in a really big way, thanks to Agit.

“Obviously Agit would have preferred to have had the shot at Oleksandr he had been patiently waiting for. But he had waited long enough and now a new heavyweight landscape has opened up and Agit will be at the forefront.

“The show in January was an incredible success and provided a perfect illustration of the popularity of Agit in his homeland. Now he can really build on this as a world heavyweight champion and create many more major boxing events in Germany.

“This further strengthens our heavyweight talent pool here at Queensberry, with Agit joining Daniel Dubois as a world champion. Plus we have Tony Yoka scheduled to fight the WBA Interim world champion Murat Gassiev on July 11 and the highly ranked IBF contenders Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic set to fight at The o2 on August 29.”