Kabayel has a lot still to prove. He's shown he's somewhere towards the top of the division, but at the same time he hasn't shown he's consistently top drawer... Against ATG's? It'd be disrespectful to pick Agit, IMHO. He has time to prove a lot more - IF he wants to. And IF he's actually good enough AND wants to then MAYBE this question might not seem silly to even think about asking... But for me, right now it just does, sorry.
Unless Kabayel ends up being exposed for some serious weaknesses later on, I think he has the tools to make these matchups very interesting. Elite body work but he’s still hittable as well as hurtable like a few moments in the Zhang fight. And Zhang had nowhere near the workrate of an early round Foreman. However, the body work of Kabayel is ELITE so I could imagine both man’s stamina suffering as a result, Liston may have went 12 but he hasn’t dealt with a 240 pound man throwing rapid fire at his torso. I can’t make a pick at this stage of Kabayel’s career, all I can really say is that he has the potential to make these interesting.
Even an Old George would be a very bad stylistic match-up for Kabayel. Kabayel isn't a great mover, and would go into the line of fire which suits Foreman and he would get bullied about and Foreman would control his posture and get the KO.
He has no chance. He'd struggle to beat one of them, but two, no way. Whilst Liston is peppering him with jabs you'll have Foreman wailing kn hooks and uppercuts. Kabayel will be lucky to make it out of the first round.
Can we really use the word "elite" when he's never fought a truly elite fighter and only beaten one contender (and an ancient and inconsistent one at that)? I think he's decent, and the body work angle makes him interesting and different... I just think the bar for elite attributes is a high one and I don't see him there yet. It's a bit like claiming someone is an elite puncher when they've not knocked out anyone with a famously good chin and have been fighting mostly static bums... For me, elite has to be proven against top dogs, plural.
Both are a bad stylistic matchup for Kabayel imo. As punchers, Liston and Foreman struggled with fast, slick boxers. Come forward guys play right into their game. Important to note though that Kabayel is 6'3 and weighs in around 240. Liston was 6'1 and typically averaged like 210-220 in his prime. Foreman was 6'3 and usually fought around 225. Neither guy faced anyone that big. Foreman was considered the big strongman in his time but now a "small" HW like Usyk has the same stats as him. Liston was never known as big and typically fought CW and LHW sized guys. Getting pressured by someone bigger than them and everyone they fought would be uncharted territory, so there is a slight chance of them getting overwhelmed. I'd still pick Liston and Foreman to win just based on styles, and the fact that Kabayel does have a noticeable layer of fat on him. The classic guys were a CUT batch of heavyweights, and Kabayel could very well be not much bigger than a prime Foreman if he got rid of all that fat.
One thing is for sure, Kabayel would certainly be an awkward opponent for any of the mentioned two, but for now I won't say that he would beat them...
I'm a huge Kabayel fan but I think stylistically this would be a tough fight for him Especially the George Foreman fight
Just because Kabayel beat Mahmudov, Sanchez, and Zhilei "6 Round Gas Tank" Zhang doesn't mean he's on par with a Top 10 HW ATG boxer (for me Foreman is; Liston isn't).
I think kabayel would loose against a prime foreman as would any nowadays hw top5 ..the same is true for liston . When we say the word "elite" : Zhang,s performance against kabayel was way more "elite" than duboi`s performance against usyk . That said , yes , kabayel needs to proove more .
I wouldn't necessarily bet against Usyk, though he's certainly not prime now... Everyone else, right now, agreed has next to no chance realistically. When we say elite, we're talking about the ability to operate against the very best... Kabayel proved something against Zhang, but given Zhang's patchy record (3-3-1 against top 200 fighters) and him being at an age where decline can be rapid... Look it's a good win, but you need way more than that in isolation to prove anything like elite status - and the problem is precisely that it IS in isolation. Yep, he needs to prove way way more if he's going to live up to the current hype levels.
