Kurdish boxer Agit Kabayel has achieved a historic milestone by being officially crowned the World Boxing Council (WBC) World Heavyweight Champion, following Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk’s relinquishment of his world titles in this division. With this achievement, Kabayel becomes the first Kurdish boxer to win this title, and the first boxer holding German citizenship to be crowned world heavyweight champion since the legendary Max Schmeling won it in 1932.
The announcement of his crowning followed the WBC’s decision to promote Kabayel from interim champion to world champion, after Usyk announced his withdrawal from facing the Kurdish boxer and relinquished his heavyweight belts. The Ring magazine confirmed the decision via its account on the “X” platform, announcing Kabayel as the world champion.
On Friday, Usyk had announced via his Instagram account that he was relinquishing his three world heavyweight titles (WBA, WBC, and IBF), confirming that he would fight “one last match” without disclosing further details. The 39-year-old boxer wrote: “I want to give up all the belts I currently hold and I will hand over the belts, but I am not retiring from the sport, because I am still waiting for my last dance.”
Kabayel had aspired to face Usyk to settle the title inside the ring. Over the past few months, he had issued several public invitations to him and requested the WBC to organize the bout. However, the Ukrainian boxer’s relinquishment of his titles prevented the matchup from taking place.
This achievement comes as the pinnacle of an outstanding professional career for the Kurdish boxer, who successfully defended his interim WBC champion title against Poland’s Damian Knyba in the German city of Oberhausen in January 2026, after knocking out his opponent in the third round in front of more than 13,000 spectators. He had also previously won the WBC Interim World Champion title in February 2025 after defeating China’s Zhang Zhilei in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Kabayel holds an undefeated professional record, having fought 27 bouts and winning them all, including 19 victories by knockout. Prior to his crowning, he was ranked fourth globally according to The Ring magazine rankings.
Agit Kabayel was born on September 23, 1992, in the German city of Leverkusen. His family hails from the Pazarcık district of the Maraş region in Northern Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey), before migrating to Germany in the late 1990s. He began his professional boxing career in the city of Wuppertal in June 2011, at the age of eighteen.
Throughout his sports career, he won a number of European and international titles in 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2019. In 2024, he was crowned champion of the WBC Continental Americas, alongside the North American Boxing Organization (NABO) title, before adding his most prominent achievement on June 27, 2026, by capturing the World Heavyweight Champion title.
Following this achievement, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, congratulated the Kurdish boxer Agit Kabayel today, Sunday (June 28, 2026), during a video call between them.
Masrour Barzani said in a post on the “X” platform: “I congratulated the champion Agit Kabayel on the occasion of winning the WBC World Heavyweight Champion title, becoming the first Kurd to achieve this milestone.”
For his part, Kabayel expressed his happiness with this achievement via his Facebook account, saying: “Words cannot describe what I feel. Having my name written in the history books alongside legends like Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson is a childhood dream come true.”
He added, thanking his fans: “I will do everything in my power to keep this belt for a long time and add more titles to my collection.”
The Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani had previously received Agit Kabayel on April 17, 2025, at the Salahaddin resort near Erbil in the Kurdistan Region. At the time, he congratulated him on winning the heavyweight title (WBC) in the bout held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, emphasizing his continuous support for him and wishing him further success and brilliance in his athletic career.
Note: This text is translated from the original Arabic version… Read the Arabic version:Click here
