Rico Verhoeven vs Agit Kabayel for the WBC Heavyweight Championship

Yeah.

Kabayel seemed to duck Joyce for the EBU in 2019. He could have fought Okolie rather than Knyba but preferred to sit on his interim title. Kab has three solid top 10-ish wins, not much beyond that.

 

Joyce probably would have been a very bad matchup for him. Good engine and Kabayel wouldn't have been able to put a dent in his chin. I think he just would have walked him down and beaten him up.

 

Maybe. Kabayel/his team seemed not to have fancied it. No forgone conclusion though: Kabayel handled Chisora's pressure well, winning 8 or 9 rounds, never seeming significantly hurt iirc, and finishing stronger in the 12th. And Jennings, who pushed Joyce close over 12 the fight previous, hurt Joyce with a body shot.

 

Would have been an interesting fight because I haven't seen many heavyweights try and breakdown Joyce with bodyshots.

 

Wasn't that body shot landed very late though? Jennings probably would have given Kabayel a lot of issues as well tbf. He was a good solid HW. Biggest problem seemed to be his chin.

 

just like Usyk, right?

 

I’d far rather see it be Rico than Miller.

 

I don't think that's a fair representation of the HW landscape. All of the top names at heavyweight are inactive. Usyk has only had 5 fights since 2023, same with Joshua, and Kabayel has had four during the same period. Agit has actually been fighting actual boxers as well. He hasn't been fighting Jake Paul and Ngannou or entertaining ridiculous gimmick fights.

He beat an undefeated Sanchez when some were talking about him being the heavyweight boogeyman, which elevated him to the WBC mandatory in the first place, which is where he was for over 2 years until he got the belt last week. Usyk defended the belt 3 times in this 2 year period, including once against a kickboxer who had a 1-0 record, all while Kabayel was offering to fight him in a German stadium superfight. I don't see how fighting 1-0 Rico instead of your WBC mandatory, especially at heavyweight, could be perceived as anything other than avoidance.

I'm not saying Usyk was scared of him, but the fight did not make financial sense and they avoided making it while there were more lucrative options elsewhere, such as the Dubois rematch. Kabayel should have been elevated there and then and Usyk should've been stripped of the belt.

While he was WBC mandatory, he got off the floor and knocked out Zhang to win the interim. It was one of the highest risk fights he could've taken. I criticised Parker for taking on too many difficult fights when he was in such a prominent position. He shot himself in the foot losing to Wardley which cost him a potentially enormous payday against Usyk, so I understand why Kabayel hasn't been fighting 2/3 times a year.

I wouldn't say Kabayel is high risk low reward, more like medium risk, low reward. He publicly called Dubois out on more than one occasion, as well, even before he was elevated. He's also called out Itauma and Joshua.

I can see Rico going down the same path as Ngannou. There was no blueprint for Ngannou, and when he nearly beat Fury everyone thought he would become a contender, but once his flaws in the ring were there to study in detail, Joshua flattened him. I expect Kabayel to handle Rico, not as convincingly, but I think he will chop him down with body shots and not have much difficulty.

 

guys on here needs to watch Rico’s glory fights. They’ll make you depressed he didn’t take up boxing instead. Because he’s a bad mother****er. Pure blood and guts fighter. Fears no man, fears not being hit or hurt, pure pressure, never stops, gets hurt bad keeps on fighting (and finds a way to win even when badly hurt and half concussed), blood flying everywhere, etc.

 

Where are Dorsey and Warring?

 

Agit is favored but anyone who says Rico has no chance are kidding themselves. Agit blows hot and cold and could very well go in there and stink it up just like Usyk.

 

Usyk was widely criticized for not being active enough (but at least fought top ranked opposition bar Rico), and Kabayel fought even less often than he did. There's also a difference between calling people out and actively fighting them.

Parker is setting the example as to what more heavyweights should be doing, and that is fighting anyone they can as often as they can. Hopefully Kabayel starts being more active as champion, because his track record so far isn't exactly great as the interm one.

Comparing Rico to Ngannou is like comparing an apple to a toaster. They're two very different fighters, with Rico having a far superior trainer on his side. AJ would be lucky to have any form of success against Rico based off of his last few fights.

Kabayel may have more success if he can maintain a sustained attack to the body, but Rico could also come in with a gameplan to nullify it with constant movement and keeping him at the end of a rangy jab. It's an interesting fight, and I wouldn't just assume that Kabayel handles it the same way he would against stationary fighters like Zhang and Mahkmudov.

 

lol took him 11 rounds and most had him down on the cards