Maybe that’s how it is at the highest level of his sport, where a few doors are currently opening for professional boxer Agit Kabayel: You fly to London to deliver two and a half sentences at a press event, and hours later you’re already on your way back to Wattenscheid. The European heavyweight champion just didn’t have time to think about it last week, it all happened too quickly.
The request from Saudi Arabia whether he wanted to be one of the participants in a million-dollar boxing gala in Riyadh on December 23rd; the prompt confirmation agreed upon with his promoter Ulf Steinforth; then the invitation to the Wembley Arena, where Kabayel came to sit on a two-row podium on Wednesday with a dozen other, in doubt even more established, ring greats. Like a board meeting of broad-shouldered, confident men.
Seven heavyweights in the ring
“Very big opponent, very good organization,” praised the previously unbeaten Kabayel (23 wins, 15 of them early). This was followed by exactly seven words about your personal mood: “I am happy and I am ready.” Finally, the professionals and promoters lined up for a group photo. From now on, the 31-year-old guest from Germany will keep this in his possession like valuable jewelry. After all, he is captured on it the way he always wanted to be over many arduous years: as a universally respected member of the global pugilist elite.
The scope of the spectacle was then felt not only between the Ruhr and Emscher, where Kabayel is at home. His pictures and quotes quickly went viral worldwide and allowed fans and experts alike to find new superlatives for the so-called “Day of Reckoning” in Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena.
As if it just had to be praised highly enough to distract from any objections to the host country, which is so economically powerful but politically highly dubious. In the Magdeburg boxing stable SES Boxing, of which Kabayel has been a member for almost eight years, they didn’t just want to talk about a “huge evening”, but even about the “most spectacular fight card in boxing history”, as it says in a press release.
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In this particular case there could actually be more to it than the usual grandstanding. After all, seven heavyweights who are listed among the top 20 on the computer-based world rankings of the independent portal “Box-Rec” will be entering the ring on the evening in question. Above all, former champions Anthony Joshua (England) and Deontay Wilder (USA), who want to gain new World Cup chances with clear victories.
In addition, two undefeated world champions, the Australian Jai Opetaia (cruiserweight) and the Canadian-based Russian Dmitry Biwol (light heavyweight), are putting their titles in the following weight classes at risk. Each of those mentioned could sell enough tickets for a big boxing gala on their own.
Las Vegas in the other desert
But “big” is of course two sizes too small for Turki Al-Sheikh, chairman of the Saudi Arabian sports authority and advisor to the king. The influential sports official, who also owns the Spanish first division football club UD Almería, wants to make his country the new epicenter of the world-class boxing business: What happened so far in Las Vegas is now and in the future set to take place on the edge of another desert.
That’s why he brought the World Cup rematch between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz (USA) to Diridyah, a suburb of Riyadh, at the end of 2019. That’s why the eccentric WBC champion Tyson Fury recently held an expendable world championship fight here with former mixed martial arts champion Francis Ngannou. And so now another “signature event” – almost two months before the ultimate World Championship duel between Fury and three-time world champion Oleksandr Usyk.
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Seen in this light, Agit Kabayel does not (yet) have a leading role on December 23rd. Nevertheless, the opportunity is so huge that he has to seize it. The 1.91 meter tall professional has been traded for “megafights” for years that never materialize. And so far it has been stuck at the level of European Championship fights, where there are already explosive opponents but no really lucrative exchanges yet. However, his royally best-paid job will be a special test: In Riyadh, Kabayel will meet Arslanbek Makhmudow, who is trained in Canada and has won 17 of 18 professional matches early. “It will be a tough task,” predicts Kabayel.
