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 will be one of the first games to be shown.
Body Shots: The key for Kabayel
Kabayel vs. Zhang could steal the show on the February 22nd card as it will be a real war. Both heavyweights like to slug it out, and Kabayel will take the fight to ‘Big Bang’, looking for him with his body attack. Zhang has shown that he is susceptible to being hit to 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 fighter in his 20s in his last bout, obliterating ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Deontay Wilder with a fifth-round knockout on June 1. Two-time Olympian Zhang needs to show the same form to win against Agit Kabayel (32, 25-0, 17 KOs).
Kabayel, 32, is significantly younger than Zhang and has recent knockout wins over Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov. Few boxing fans expected Kabayel to win any of those fights, as the first 13 years of his professional career were nothing special for the German fighter.
He has beaten lower-level fighters and struggled to defeat Derek Chisora ​​in 2017, winning a 12-round majority decision. However, in Kabayel’s last two fights, he adjusted his style and became a furious body puncher and a nightmare to deal with.
As Kabayel looked in his seventh round victory against Frank Sanchez on May 18, he would knock out Tyson Fury. His body jabs are out of this world, as we saw in Fury’s last fight against Usyk; he does not like to be beaten against his overflowing bread basket full of goodies.
Kabayel vs. Sanchez Punch Statistics
– Agit Kabayel: 64 of 577 punches for a 28% connection rate
– Frank Sanchez: 81 of 318 shots for 25%
Most of the blows Kabayel landed during the fight were to the body, which connected on 51.
Kabayel is ranked #2 WBC, #3 IBF, #4 WBO, and #5 WBA. He is close to getting a world title. The only reason he hasn’t gotten a chance yet is because the champions keep focusing on fighting popular guys, and he’s not a household name with the casual crowd.
Zhang is ranked #2 WBO, #3 IBF, and #4 WBC. He is still highly regarded despite losing to Joseph Parker by a 12-round majority decision earlier this year on March 8th.
February 22 Riyadh map
Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitri Bivol 2
Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker
Jaron Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr
Zhilei Zhang vs Agit Kabayel
Hamzah Sheeraz vs Carlos Adames
