Let's be real about Agit Kabayel

It seems incredibly convenient for Joshua that he gets to rate ahead of all these guys without ever facing them in the ring.
Objectively he missed out on too many dangerous opponents for us to have a solid grasp of where he rates at least in my view.

 

Still better than the likes of Ngannou and Jake Paul.

 

Oh I agree Kabayel would be the more interesting fight, but I wouldn't go so far as to say the most "deserving" when he's been sitting on his ass for the better part of a decade. The heavyweight division is in a really weird limbo at the moment it feels.

Realistically we're more likely to see Usyk v Wilder/Fury 3.

 

I'd describe it as more of an embarrassment. Considering Foreman went on to fight until he was 46 I don't blame him for some soft touches, and they were at least professional boxers.

 

Dubois literally beat his ass and is 2x champion

The consensus on your post is a difference of 4 measly points thats hardly significant and negligible at best given their h2h fight

 

Ha, great question!

I'd say there's a group that clusters pretty closely that all have pros and cons... In no particular order!

Parker has by far the deepest resume of the fresh challengers - but has the most losses, too, and fought full-****** against Wardley.

Dubois... Has already lost twice, and nobody wants or needs to see a third.

Wardley only has one really top win, like Kabayel, and it's against a guy that beat Kabayel's best guy - but how dreadful Parker fought asterisks it for me, and the loss to Dubois who's lost twice against Usyk doubles down on that.

Itauma has huge hype and the greatest potential to age well (besides possibly Dubois), but hasn't proven enough yet (the Hrgovic fight may make that clearer) and would be protected from it in any case.

Then there's Kabayel with, again, a thin resume and a history of choosing to fight bums rather than improve it - he's something different, but he's also slow and I'm far from convinced he could cope with Usyks gears even now.


Put all these together? I just can't see any compelling fights that really "must" be made - they all have their ups and downs as fighters, as paydays and as legacy prospects.

And, you know what, Kiwi kinda has a point - when fixing that stain has more value than anything else, it tells you how little he really has left to prove with the current lot.

 

In his last interview, Usyk said he will fight Tyson Fury. So, he's scared of Kabayel, but not scared of Fury?

 

In his last four fights, three opponents were undefeated, Kabayel is underrated...

 

Kabayel being beaten black and blue and knocked down by Smackici (he's #196 in heavyweight rankings), let's roll it again:

This content is protected

 

At the time, Smakici was ranked higher than Kabayel, but that loss and his inactivity caused him to slide down the rankings.

 

Come on man, don't be silly. You're paying too much attention to the ABC organisations and what their belts/rankings say. Just because Usyk vacates the belts doesn't automatically mean he is no longer the P4P number 1 heavyweight, and lineal heavyweight champion of the world. The belts aren't like some kind of super power that he loses because he vacates them.

I agree with the last part of this. I used to be a huge Fury fan, I was under his spell like a lot of people were. But he lost my respect with the way he messed both Usyk, and AJ around for so long, and tried to delay the superfight with Usyk by picking fights like Chisora and Ngannou. Now, I near enough can't stand the bloke. I agree, it was the money he couldn't say no to.

But, talent-wise, I have to disagree. And despite losing to Usyk twice, he showed enough in his performances to confirm to me that he's number 2. In the first fight, mid-rounds I was starting to get worried for Usyk, as Fury was turning it up on him and Usyk looked like he was finding it pretty tough in there. But, as always, Usyk finds another level, broke Fury's nose, and then had him staggering all over the ring, and that was that. Clear Usyk victory. The second fight though, while I admit I haven't watched it back since, I felt it was very close, a lot closer than people made it out to be. And I am super biased for Usyk so there's no agenda here.

I still think, as long as Fury is prepared properly for a fight, I'd back him to beat every other current heavyweight, apart from probably Itauma. But Itauma is still so young, and Fury could use all his experience against him. But that's the only one where I think Fury has a good chance of losing.