What to Know
- WBC World Heavyweight champion Agit Kabayel and challenger Nelson Hysa appeared in Dusseldorf Tuesday to discuss their upcoming championship fight on Saturday, November 28 at the Merkur Spiel Arena.
- It’s a hometown fight for Kabayel, whose fans sold out the Rudolf Weber Arena in Oberhausen for his last fight. Ticket sales are brisk for November 28.
- Kabayel vs Hysa will air live in the U.S. on DAZN Boxing.
Germany has a rich boxing history with world champions and Olympic medalists across multiple weight classes over the past century, all the way back to Max Schmeling. The nation also embraced champions who made Germany their boxing home, such as Ukraine’s Wladimir and Vitaly Klitschko, largely because of their enthusiastic fans.
But those fans haven’t had much to cheer since the Klitschkos retired. Now, Germany’s newest champion, WBC World Heavyweight champion Agit Kabayel, has raised their hopes.
Can Agit Kabayel Revive German Boxing?
Could Kabayel bring boxing back to life in Germany? It seems he’s the man fans have been waiting for. The native of Bochum, Nordrhein-Westfalen, is already a star at home. His appearance against Damian Knyba in January sold out the 13.000-seat Rudolf Weber Arena in Oberhausen before an enthusiastic crowd.
Now, Kabayel will defend his title against challenger Nelson Hysa of Albania on Saturday, November 28, at the Rudolf Weber Arena in Dusseldorf, near Kabayel’s hometown. It’s the same arena where Wladimir Klitschko lost to Tyson Fury – 11 years to the day on November 28, 2015.
Observers questioned Queensberry Promotions’ decision to stage the fight in a 54,600-capacity arena. Only Canelo Alvarez and Jake Paul can fill that many seats.
But just 48 hours days into ticket sales as of Tuesday, 35,000 seats have been sold, with another 5,000 released after the news conference. Who knew? Frank Warren knew.
And according to Hyba today, 5,000 of those tickets were sold to his devoted Albanian fans. The fight takes place on Albanian Independence Day.
Agit Kabayel Taps Albanian for Title Defense
Kabayel (26-0, 18 KOs), age 34, became the WBC Interim Heavyweight champion with a win over Zhilei Zhang of China in 2025. He was upgraded to full champion status after unified champion Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine relinquished his titles in June. Kabayel captured the boxing world’s attention with wins over Arslanbek Makhmudov and Frank Sanchez. Knowledgeable fans have gravitated to Kabayel, who is Kurdish by heritage. He speaks English, German, and Kurdish fluently.
With all of the top ten heavyweights already booked (Fury vs Joshua, the Wardley vs Dubois rematch, Usyk teeing up a match with Deontay Wilder), and others coming off recent fights, Hysa (25-0, 23 KOs) got the call.
Nelson was present in January at Kabayel’s win over Knyba and called him out. Negotiations were a bit rocky, but the fight landed.
“Thank you for accepting my challenge. I want to say, I came here to take the title and bring it home to my country,” said Hysa, wearing a scarf and shirt depicting the red and black Albanian flag. “We will fight hard to do whatever it takes.”
Hysa Determined to Become First Albanian Champion
Hysa enjoyed a long amateur career and didn’t turn pro until age 37 in 2022, and his resume doesn’t have any recognizable names. Now age 42, the “Albanian Eagle” is determined to become the first ever world champion from Albania in any division.
“This is the fight we wanted to make,” said boxing promoter Frank Warren of Queensberry. “Agit Kabayel has rejuvenated the boxing market in Germany with his exploits in the heavyweight division.”
Speaking in German, Kabayel said Tuesday he feels the weight of the historical significance of fighting in Dusseldorf.
“I was a young man watching who stood in the ring,” said Kabayel of the Klitschko vs Fury fight. “If someone had asked me back then whether 11 years later I would be boxing here in the stadium myself, even selling out the presale, I never would have imagined walking into that ring.
“And now here we stand. It is an indescribable feeling. I do not think I fully realize it yet. I think that will hit me after the fight once we secure the victory,” thanking every person who helped him along the way.
Kabayel called Hysa a better trash-talker, but on November 28 they would find out who the better boxer is.
Kabayel Calls for Cultural Unity
“My appeal to everyone watching, please let us show how two cultures can stick together. Here in Germany, as I said, we are not just guests. We are part of Germany, and we should conduct ourselves accordingly,” said Kabayel of his Kurdish fans. “He and I will settle this in the ring, man to man, eye to eye, tooth for tooth. Everything else is secondary.”
Hysa said there will be more Albanians in the stadium than Kurds.”I am 100 percent certain there will be more Kurds than Albanians. We have such a strong community supporting me on my journey,” said Kabayel.
What makes Hysa think he will defeat an experienced world champion with a superior resume? “Sometimes you need to fight a boxer to see what style and what level he brings. I do not want to say more,” said a smiling Hysa.
“I will definitely teach him how to box. I am really looking forward to it. I am ready. I am prepared for this fight,” said the champion.
Kabayel said he will prepare for this massive homecoming fight in front of by far the biggest audience of his career like any other fight, letting his coaches handle the fine-tuning and tactics, while he focuses on his own rhythm, working to be a better version of himself.
Kabayel: ‘Together, We Can Revitalize German Boxing”
Although Kabayel said it’s been a long, hard road to the top of the heavyweight division with plenty of obstacles, his experiences, good and bad, brought him to the opportunity before him on November 28.
“After the Klitschko era ended, I had to clear every stone placed in my path to reach this position. As I said, it was a roller-coaster ride, a wild roller-coaster ride. I fought and fought, and in the end, we reached this point,” said Kabayel.
“Breathing life into boxing in Germany for this younger generation is my motivation. I want to support everyone fighting on the undercard and give them the opportunity to be seen before tens of thousands of people. Together, we can revitalize German boxing.”
Kabayel vs Hysa won’t draw a bigger audience than Max Schmeling, who drew the largest boxing crowd in Europe in 1934: 102,000 spectators.
“We also give Kurdish fighters the opportunity to grow. One or two Kurdish boxers will compete on the undercard. Our goal is to connect people, make the sport bigger, and keep it in people’s minds,” said Kabayel.
Kabayel said he knows what the atmosphere will be like in Dusseldorf after experiencing the loud and passionate sellout crowd in January.
“When the Kurdish fans and Albanian fans meet, it will be very, very loud. The German fans will also bring their energy, and we are looking forward to it immensely. I say, let us go!”
Undercard fights haven’t yet been announced and are expected in the next few weeks.
NOTE: Agit Kabayel quotes have been translated from German using Gemini AI.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist with more than four dozen awards for both written and video coverage from the Boxing Writers Association of America, Society of Professional Journalists, and San Diego Press Club, where she is the past president. She is the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the BWAA. She is the Boxing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.
