WBC Ultimatum Oleksandr Usyk to Have Mandatory Duel with Agit Kabayel

JAKARTA - The World Boxing Council (WBC) has ultimatum the undisputed two-time world champion, Oleksandr Usyk, to undergo a mandatory fight against WBC interim champion, Agit Kabayel, after he voluntarily defended the title.

WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed that his body had given Usyk permission to undergo a voluntary title defense fight, but on the condition that the Ukrainian champion had to fight Kabayel afterwards.

"He was given that opportunity and he has to fight the next interim champion. That's his decision," Sulaiman said as quoted by TalkSport.

Usyk has not set foot in the ring since his emphatic victory over Daniel Dubois in a five-round fight in July 2025 to unify the heavyweight division belt for the second time in his career.

The boxer, who is currently 39 years old, did not defend his undisputed champion status for a long time because he decided to vacate the WBO belt within two months of winning it.

He is most likely to keep all those belts, but he turned down a mandatory defense against Fabio Wardley who managed to seize the interim title after defeating Joseph Parker in October 2025 at the O2 Arena, London, England.

Usyk refused to fight Wardley because of his desire to face Deontay Wilder, an American boxer who held the WBC belt from 2015 to 2020 when he lost to Tyson Fury.

The WBA, WBC, and IBF all paved the way for that fight. They gave Usyk the right to defend the title voluntarily, but Wilder instead chose to press the contract to clash with Derek Chisora.

Usyk, who is now sidelined, has been linked with the likes of Andy Ruiz Jr and kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven.

However, Kabayel is now in the running after he stopped Damian Knyba last month to retain the WBC interim title.

The duel against Usyk is now considered one of the fights that will be financially beneficial after his victory over Damian at his home, the Rudolf Weber-Arena, Oberhausen, watched by tens of thousands of spectators.