Warren made it clear he expects Usyk to defend against Kabayel next.
“(Kabayel) beat everybody he put in front of him, and he’s a real, real class act, a sweet guy, and he can fight,” Warren said. Sky Sports Boxing.
“He deserves to be in the number one spot, and he’s been there for a while.
“They are talking about maybe doing a rematch with Usyk and Rico (Verhoeven), we are not going to stand for that.”
Kabayel’s position became a major talking point after Verhoeven pushed Usyk to the brink before being stopped in the final second of round 11. The Dutch kickboxing star stunned fans by repeatedly backing Usyk and forcing him into long exchanges instead of the controlled boxing display many expected.
Warren said Kabayel had waited long enough for his title shot and warned there could be consequences if Usyk moves in a different direction.
“Usyk has been there long enough, and he wants his moment, and that’s what we’ll push for with WBC, and hopefully get it over the line and do the same time in the fall,” Warren said.
“If he doesn’t take it, he’ll have to vacate it, or be stripped, as simple as that.
“You’re a champion, you defend the belts, that’s what you’re there for, if you don’t defend them, you have to give them up and give other people an opportunity to build their name.”
Warren also admitted he was surprised by how competitive the Verhoeven fight turned out to be. Like many fans watching worldwide, he expected Usyk to comfortably handle the former GLORY kickboxing champion in just his second professional boxing bout. Instead, Warren believed Verhoeven was ahead of the charts before the strike.
“I thought it would be a pretty routine type of job for Usyk, but that’s not how it turned out,” Warren said.
“Dude Rico, he showed a lot of heart, a lot of desire, and he showed some skills, and he was very aggressive in his movements and the way he came forward.
“For me (Verhoeven) was winning the fight. I didn’t understand the score. I really thought he was ahead by a few rounds.”
Warren stopped short of directly criticizing the referee, but he said he felt the fight could have gone into the 12th round.
“I do feel the referee could have let it go on,” Warren said. “That said, the referee is not a timekeeper. That’s not his job. It’s when he feels it’s appropriate to stop a fight. That’s what he has to do.
“But I do feel he could have kept it going, considering where they got in the 11th round, but he was close to the action. It was his decision, and it was a very, very exciting fight and a big surprise.”
