Top Rank signs former European champion Agit Kabayel

Undefeated German heavyweight Agit Kabayel has joined the Top Rank stable, where he “will make his U.S. debut soon.”

Kabayel (19-0, 13 KO) won the EBU title in 2017 with a decision over Herve Hubeaux, but it was his first defense, an upset of Dereck Chisora in Monte Carlo, that got his name. The 26-year-old never really capitalized on this, though; his two fights since 2017 were victories over Miljan Rovcanin and Andriy Rudenko, and he lost his belt yesterday after withdrawing from a purse bid with mandatory challenger Joe Joyce.

Kabayel is ranked in three sanctioning bodies’ top 10s, most notably sitting at #4 with the IBF, One would hope that his new handlers don’t immediately throw him at Tyson Fury, but with many of the other heavyweight contenders plying their trade on DAZN, Top Rank’s options are rather limited. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.