Kabayel smokes these other belt holders

I think Dubois beats him. Him versus Hrgovic is 50/50.

I have a sneaky suspicion now that Kabayel is a world champion, he won't have the same hunger and desire he once had.

 

He beats everyone but Usyk

 

I will have to tend to agree with you H2H. But, as a Kabayel fan who frequently debunks anti-Kabayel propaganda, I do have to say he needs to get more active.

It was understandable that he wasn't active throughout this year because he was Usyk's mandatory. Kabayel did what 90% of boxers do, yes, old-school fighters included; he was willing to wait and occasionally take an easy fight. But now that he is no longer the mandatory, he is the champion, so he needs to get a move on and either get a unification fight or fight a good contender like Huni, Miller, Parker, or Ajagba.

 

Uysk ducked; I am sad that we will never see that fight.

 

Nah Hrgovic is too durable, experienced (pro, WSB, and amateur) for him. He'd take Kabayels best.

Dubois is too fast and explosive.

And I'd also make Gassiev a slight favourite.

 

Kabayel is good and has improved BUT he's being overrated. He aint beating anyone in the top 5.

He went life and death with Euro level Agron Smakici and nearly got stopped.

He also has two early pro defeats that are not on his boxrec record to Evgeny Orlov and Fabrice Aurieng in 'Bigger's Better ' tournament fights.

 

Gassiev would lose so badly it's not even funny. Hrgovic is durable, but no boxer has an iron body, last I checked, and I would make Kabayel the favorite. Dubois is a hard fight, but I would still make Kabayel the favorite.

And? Kabayel has clearly improved, so who gives a **** if he had two losses against unknowns and went life and death with Smakici? If you want to play the same dumb game, Hrgovic barely squeaked out a decision against Zhang, a fight many thought Zhang should have won or that could have been a draw in. Kabayel destroyed Zhang in six rounds. Dubois went life and death with Lerena, quit twice against Usyk, and took a knee against Joyce. And Gassiev has a recent loss to OTTO WALLIN.

 

He could conceivably beat or lose to any of the current belt holders. Including Usyk.

Dubois might actually be the toughest guy for him to beat. Won't be as easy to walk down as old Zhang, Sanchez and Makhmudov and has big power and a great gas tank. Kabayel is solid defensively but not impossible to hit and he has a good chin but can be dropped and hurt. With a guy like Dubois coming at him for 12 rounds I'm not entirely sure if he'd be able to last the distance, especially if Dubois can take his shots. This is assuming Dubois is willing to fight through adversity against him and doesn't just mentally collapse as soon as he starts getting hit. Still I think Kabayel would be able to out speed and outbox him. He's the most versatile guy in the division right now (maybe with the exception of Justis Huni, pity his chin is so shaky) and can transition well between coming forward and attacking the body and boxing off the backfoot. Can make the necessary adjustments to beat Dubois but would always be a risk of getting caught.

The Knyba fight showed his stylistic vulnerability to taller outboxes a bit I think. Hrgovic could execute a similar plan to that over a full fight but he hasn't really been an outboxer type for years and is very hittable. Kabayel could out point him but I also agree that Kabayel could very possibly stop him to the body.

He beats Gassiev 12-0 and might stop him. Wouldn't advise trying to walk him down for the full fight like he's been doing though, as that may leave him open for a big shot out of nowhere.

The Usyk who nearly lost to Verhoven loses to Kabayel decisively. Even the Usyk who showed up against Dubois in the rematch I'm not confident would beat him. Could pose similar problems that Breidis did except now Usyk's older and Kabayel is younger and stronger than Breidis. If Usyk can conjure up Fury 2 type form then I think he may have enough to outpoint Kabayel but he's older and more worn than he was then. Understand why he didn't take the fight.

 

Yes, I 100% agree with your entire post.

 

It would be interesting to see if Hrgovic can take Kabayel's body assault. Kabayel is more talented but who knows with Hrgovic. Guys like Fury and Usyk I would pick comfortably against Hrgovic because they can be counted on to finish a 12 round fight with ease while never getting sloppy. A prime Fury would clown Hrgovic.

Hrgovic Miller / Ruiz would be interesting. Both guys with gas tanks

 

Maybe. But the worst thing about what Usyk, Fury and AJ did to the division is we truly don't know.

 

Kabayel has the potential to break those fighters down. His chin is solid, he applies pressure intelligently too.

However, he is also rather inactive and isn't as thoroughly tested as other contenders/champions. I'd favour Kabayel to pull it off, but it's far from a given.

 

None of the four guys you mentioned are good contenders. Well, Parker is....Occasionally.

 

They are, in the current heavyweight landscape. You can argue that if it was the '70s and blah blah blah, but all the fighters I mentioned are basically in everyone's top 15.

I do think Parker is clearly the most proven, but Huni is the best, and I would be surprised if Kabayel stopped him. Huni, by the way, was stopped unfairly in the Huni fight. He got up before 8, wasn't shaky, and was ahead on the scorecards. I will admit, though, that I didn't look at the stoppage critically until @Bigplatts questioned me about it (thank you).

Ajagba is a very hard stylistic fight for Kabayel and has an underrated run. Miller is hard to beat, and if Miller were in Hrgovic's place in the Itauma fight, I think we would have seen him win too, because he has everything that made Hrgovic beat Itauma. I made a thread about the premise if you want to read it: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...jerrell-big-baby-miller.752245/#post-23919605