Usyk vs Kabayel purse bid deadline set for June 30

Oleksandr Usyk and Agit Kabayel have eleven days to strike a deal for their WBC-ordered heavyweight title fight before the matter goes to purse bid on June 30.

WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman told Betway the sides are in the negotiation window following the sanctioning body's official fight order. "We're just waiting for them to negotiate and hopefully the fight will happen as soon as possible, and we continue with this great run in heavyweight boxing," Sulaiman said, per Bad Left Hook.

Usyk's history of vacating belts complicates picture

Whether the bout actually materializes remains uncertain. Usyk has twice vacated WBC sister belts to chase bigger paydays, giving up the IBF strap in 2024 and the WBO title earlier this year. Both times Daniel Dubois claimed the vacant hardware. The Ukrainian could repeat the pattern if a rematch with kickboxer Rico Verhoeven offers more money than facing Kabayel, despite the WBC's vocal support for the Usyk-Verhoeven crossover fight in Egypt last month.

Kabayel won interim WBC gold in February 2025 by stopping Zhilei Zhang in the sixth round. He defended the belt in January with a third-round stoppage of Damian Knyba in front of a roaring crowd in Oberhausen, Germany. The unbeaten contender now sits 27-0 with 19 knockouts, waiting to see if Usyk will honor the mandatory or surrender the title.

Turki Alalshikh, who bankrolled the Verhoeven spectacle and would likely win any purse bid through a proxy promoter, reportedly favored booking Usyk-Kabayel next. The IBF has signaled it would strip Usyk if he chases a Verhoeven rematch instead. A purse bid hearing is scheduled for June 30 if the camps cannot agree on terms before then.

Reported via:

• Bad Left Hook — Oleksandr Usyk vs Agit Kabayel purse bid date set and rapidly approaching