Heavyweight contenders Agit Kabayel and Zhilei Zhang have been added to the February 22 Riyadh season card. Given the big fights on the card, Kabayel vs. Zhang could be one of the first contests shown.
Body shots: The key for Kabayel
Kabayel vs. Zhang could steal the show on the February 22 card because it will be a real war. The two heavyweights like to slug, and Kabaiel will take the fight to “Big Bang”, who will try to destroy him with his body attack. Zhang has proven to be susceptible to being hit in the midsection, and Kabayel will look to take advantage of that weakness.
Former WBO interim champion Zhilei Zhang (41, 27-2-1, 22 KOs) needs a win to stay in the hunt for a world title shot against unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Zhang, 41, looked like a 20-year-old fighter in his last contest, knocking out “The Bronze Bomber” Deontay Wilder by a fifth-round knockout on June 1. Two-time Olympian Zhang must show the same form to be victorious against Agit Kabayel (32, 25-0, 17 KO).
Kabayel, 32, is considerably younger than Zhang and has recent KO wins over Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov. Few boxing fans expected Kabayel to win one of these fights, as the first 13 years of his professional career were nothing special for the German fighter.
He had defeated lower level fighters and had fought to defeat the operator Derek Chisora in 2017, winning a 12-round majority decision. However, in Kabayel’s last two fights, he has adapted his style, becoming a ferocious body puncher and a nightmare to deal with.
The way Kabayel looked in his seventh-round stoppage victory against Frank Sanchez on May 18, he met Tyson Fury. His punching body is out of this world, as we saw in Fury’s last fight against Usyk; he doesn’t like to be hit with his bread full of goodies.
Kabaiel vs. Sanchez Punch Statistics
– Agit Kabayel: 64 of 577 punches for a 28% connection rate.
– Frank Sanchez: 81 of 318 punches for 25%
Most of the punches that Kabayel landed during the fight were to the body, connected to 51.
Kabaiel is ranked #2 WBC, #3 IBF, #4 WBO, and #5 WBA. He is close to getting the world title. The only reason he has not yet achieved a hit is that the champions continue to focus on fighting the popular guys, and he is not a household name with the casuals.
Zhang is ranked #2 WBO, #3 IBF, and #4 WBC. He is still highly ranked despite losing to Joseph Parker by a 12-round majority decision earlier this year on March 8th.
February 22 Riyadh Card
Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2
Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker
Jaron Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr
Zhilei Zhang vs Agit Kabaiel
Hamzah Sheeraz vs Carlos Adames
