Agit Kabayel to defend WBC title against Hysa

Agit Kabayel will make the first defence of his WBC heavyweight title against unbeaten Albanian Nelson Hysa at Düsseldorf’s Merkur Spiel Arena on November 28, Queensberry has announced.

The German champion’s bout with Hysa will be staged at Merkur Spiel Arena in Düsseldorf and broadcast live on DAZN, according to the promoter. It gives Kabayel a home-country title defence after he became full WBC champion in June, following Oleksandr Usyk’s relinquishment of the belt.

Kabayel, 34, enters the contest unbeaten in 27 professional fights, with 19 knockouts. Hysa, 42, is also unbeaten and brings a record of 25 wins, 23 of them inside the distance. The bout therefore matches two unbeaten fighters with high knockout totals.

Kabayel prepares for first defence in Düsseldorf

Queensberry said Kabayel’s latest win in Germany came in January, when he stopped the previously unbeaten Damian Knyba in the third round at Oberhausen’s Rudolf Weber Arena. The promoter said that result followed earlier victories over Arslanbek Makhmudov, Frank Sanchez and Zhilei Zhang.

Queensberry said the January bout took place before a sold-out crowd, adding further recent home-country context to this defence.

His victory over Zhang in early 2025 brought the WBC interim title, Queensberry said, before Kabayel was elevated to full champion this year. The Hysa fight is therefore the first occasion on which he will put that full championship on the line.

The venue is close to Kabayel’s Bochum home, and Queensberry promoter Frank Warren said the champion had earned the chance to defend his title in front of a large German crowd. Warren said the show reflected Kabayel’s role in strengthening the domestic market for heavyweight boxing in Germany.

That remains a promoter’s assessment. Boxing News reported that Hysa had not previously competed at this level.

Hysa challenges for the WBC title

Hysa arrives with a similarly emphatic knockout record. Queensberry said he stopped Thomas Narmo in the second round on the undercard of the Hrgovic-Itauma world-title card in London.

According to Queensberry, Hysa sought a fight with Kabayel after that win, and the fighters subsequently exchanged increasingly heated messages on social media. The promoter also said Hysa had previously held the WBO European title for an extended period.

For Hysa, the scale of the step up is clear. He is moving from retaining the WBO Global title into a bout for the WBC heavyweight championship, against a champion who has remained unbeaten through 27 contests. The specialist outlet Boxing News reported that Hysa had not previously fought at this level, while noting his 23 stoppages from 25 wins.

Kabayel is scheduled to make his first defence as full WBC champion, while Hysa enters the WBC world-title contest with an unbeaten professional record.

Queensberry has framed the meeting as a contest between unbeaten punchers. The available evidence supports that description in record terms, although it cannot establish how the fight will unfold. What is confirmed is that Kabayel’s first defence as full champion will come against an opponent with 23 knockouts in 25 wins.

The available reports identify Kabayel’s January stoppage of Knyba and Hysa’s stoppage of Narmo as their most recent cited results. Queensberry says both bouts ended early, with Kabayel winning in round three and Hysa in round two. Those results provide the immediate competitive context for the announced title fight.

Fight details