Kabayel Retains Heavyweight Title With Third-Round Knockout, Dedicating Victory to Kurdish People

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Agit Kabayel, the Kurdish-German heavyweight contender, secured a decisive knockout victory against Polish champion Damian Knyba in Germany on Saturday night, retaining his standing in the division and utilizing the global platform to issue a vocal statement on his heritage.

The bout, held at the Rudolf Weber-Arena in Oberhausen, ended in the third round when Kabayel delivered a finishing blow that left his opponent unable to continue. The victory improves Kabayel’s professional record to an undefeated 27-0, with 19 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

Following the match, the 33-year-old fighter declared his readiness to face Oleksandr Usyk, the current holder of the three unified heavyweight titles, for a championship unification bout later this year.

A “Historic” Night in Oberhausen

The match, which took place on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, was attended by a crowd of approximately 13,000 spectators.

The event was organized jointly by DAZN and Queensberry Promotions and was framed by analysts as a critical moment for German boxing, aiming to restore the nation’s status as a central hub for the sport in the post-Klitschko era.

According to reports from the venue, the fight did not begin seamlessly for the champion.

In the opening moments of the confrontation, Kabayel faced significant difficulty, absorbing three strong right-handed blows from Knyba. However, the momentum shifted decisively in the third round. Kabayel, who is sponsored by the Kurdistan Foundation, rallied to defeat his opponent with a knockout punch that ended the contest.

Immediately following the victory, Kabayel addressed the audience and the global broadcast viewers, framing his athletic success as a representation of his ethnic identity.

"Long live Kurdistan; what you saw was the power of the Kurds that I showed to the whole world," Kabayel said in the ring.

The win marked Kabayel’s twenty-seventh consecutive victory. By securing the knockout, he not only defended his position but also raised his knockout ratio, underscoring the power that has propelled him to the top of the World Boxing Council (WBC) rankings.

Targeting the Unified Champion

The primary implication of Saturday’s result is its impact on the heavyweight championship landscape. The bout was widely viewed as a gateway to a unification fight in late 2026. With the victory over Knyba secured, Kabayel wasted little time in pivoting his focus toward the division’s kingpin.

He publicly called out Oleksandr Usyk, the world champion holding the three unified heavyweight titles, announcing his readiness to challenge him for the undisputed crown.

"I want to fight Oleksandr Usyk, the unified heavyweight champion," Kabayel had stated prior to the match, a sentiment he reiterated forcefully after his hand was raised.

Kabayel is currently ranked among the top five heavyweights in the world. His management and promoters view a late 2026 showdown with Usyk as the logical next step in his career trajectory.

A Career Defined by Tactical Evolution

Kabayel’s performance in Oberhausen follows a string of high-profile victories that have cemented his status as a legitimate title threat. Before facing Knyba, his most significant triumph occurred in February 2025 in Riyadh, where he defeated the Chinese heavyweight Zhilei Zhang.

That fight, which took place eight months prior to the Oberhausen defense, showcased Kabayel’s tactical discipline. Entering the ring as an underdog against Zhang, a fighter renowned for his devastating punching power, Kabayel executed a game plan centered on body attacks to deplete his opponent’s stamina.

"My coach told me that after the fifth round, he would have no conditioning left – and you saw, I broke him," Kabayel told Talk Sport after the Riyadh bout. He stopped Zhang in the sixth round with a liver shot, a victory that propelled him to the number one ranking by the WBC and set the stage for his current title defense.

Identity and the "Kurdish Power" Narrative

Throughout his rise in the heavyweight division, Kabayel has intertwined his professional ambitions with a vocal embrace of his Kurdish heritage. Born in Leverkusen, Germany, in 1992 to parents from Northern Kurdistan, he has frequently described his boxing career as a parallel struggle to the Kurdish national cause.

This identity was a central theme of his preparation for the Oberhausen fight. In an interview with Kurdistan24 following his victory in Riyadh last year, Kabayel emphasized the unity of the Kurdish people regardless of national borders.

"We are all one people," he said at the time. "Not Kurds from Turkey, Syria, or Iran—just Kurds."

His connection to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has been solidified through high-level diplomatic visits. In April 2025, nine months before the fight against Knyba, Kabayel visited the Kurdistan Region and met with senior leadership, including President Masoud Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

During the meeting with President Barzani, Kabayel presented his championship belt to the leader as a symbolic gesture of solidarity. Recalling the interaction, the boxer noted the distinction he drew between political and athletic struggles.

"I gave him my WBC belt and told him, ‘You fight for Kurdistan outside the ring; I fight inside the ring,’" Kabayel said.

President Barzani subsequently praised Kabayel’s achievements as a source of pride for the Kurdish people. Prime Minister Masrour Barzani echoed these sentiments, celebrating the boxer’s success as a testament to Kurdish talent on the global stage. This political backing has reinforced the "Kurdish Power" narrative that Kabayel highlighted in his post-fight speech on Saturday.

Revitalizing German Boxing

Beyond the geopolitical symbolism, Saturday’s event in Oberhausen was significant for the domestic German sports market. The heavyweight division in Germany has seen a period of relative quiet following the era of the Klitschko brothers, who, despite being Ukrainian, spent the majority of their careers fighting out of Germany.

Observers and analysts have pointed to Kabayel as the standard-bearer capable of returning Germany to prominence in global boxing. His background—transforming from a football-loving youth in Bochum to a world champion inspired by the "Rocky" films—has resonated with a diverse domestic fanbase.

Kabayel has also cultivated a following through his friendship with Kurdish-German footballer Deniz Undav. The two athletes co-hosted a popular podcast, helping to endear the boxer to a demographic of supporters dubbed "the Kurdish Lions of Germany."

The successful defense of his WBC interim title at the Rudolf Weber-Arena serves to validate these expectations. By overcoming early adversity in the ring against Knyba and securing a knockout in front of a home crowd of 13,000, Kabayel has strengthened his claim as the face of German boxing while simultaneously elevating his profile as a representative of the Kurdish community globally.

Looking Ahead to Late 2026

With the defense against Damian Knyba concluded, the path is now theoretically clear for the unification bout Kabayel desires. The remainder of 2026 is expected to be dominated by negotiations for the clash with Oleksandr Usyk.

Kabayel has previously expressed a willingness to face other challengers, including British star Anthony Joshua, but his stated priority remains the undisputed championship. The victory in Oberhausen ensures that he enters those negotiations coming off a highlight-reel knockout, holding the WBC interim belt, and backed by a 27-0 record.

For now, the focus remains on the statement made in the ring on Sunday: a swift, violent conclusion to a high-stakes match, followed by a declaration of national pride. As Kabayel noted in his post-fight comments, his goal was to display "the power of the Kurds" to the world—a mission he claimed accomplished after the referee halted the contest in the third round.