Agit Kabayel to Defend WBC Heavyweight Title Against Nelson Hysa in Düsseldorf on November 28
WBC heavyweight champion Agit Kabayel will make his first defence against unbeaten 42-year-old Nelson Hysa at Düsseldorf's Merkur Spiel-Arena on November 28, after a public dispute between the camps.
Agit Kabayel will make the first defence of his WBC heavyweight title on November 28 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf, against unbeaten 42-year-old Albanian Nelson Hysa. The bout, confirmed in the final days of September after a public back-and-forth between the two camps, puts a German heavyweight champion in a German football stadium for the first time in more than a decade.
A Stadium Night Booked for Düsseldorf
The fight was confirmed in late September, with Boxing News reporting it on September 28. Queensberry Promotions is staging the card and DAZN will broadcast it. The German outlet Box-Sport lists it as pay-per-view. Reports put the stadium's capacity at around 50,000.
Düsseldorf was not the first choice. Box-Sport and Sport1 both say the show was originally planned for the Rudolf-Weber-Arena in Oberhausen, where Kabayel fought in January, and was moved to the much bigger football ground. The date also carries some history. On November 28, 2015, in the same stadium, then called the Esprit Arena, Tyson Fury beat Wladimir Klitschko on a unanimous decision and ended the Ukrainian's long run as heavyweight champion. Sport1 pointed out that the Kabayel-Hysa date falls exactly eleven years later.
In comments quoted by Box-Sport, Kabayel said that "even as a child, fighting for a world title in a stadium was my biggest dream."
From Interim Holder to Full WBC Champion
Kabayel was born in Leverkusen in 1992 to Kurdish parents from Turkey and grew up in Bochum. He is 27-0 with 19 knockouts. His rise came in Riyadh. In December 2023 he stopped Arslanbek Makhmudov in four rounds. In May 2024 he knocked out Frank Sanchez in the seventh. In February 2025 he stopped Zhilei Zhang in six to win the WBC interim title.
He defended the interim belt on January 10, 2026, stopping Damian Knyba in three rounds in Oberhausen, and has not fought since. In June, after Oleksandr Usyk gave up the WBC, WBA and IBF titles, the WBC upgraded Kabayel to full champion. That made him the first German world heavyweight champion since Max Schmeling in 1932. November 28 will be his first defence of the full title.
Who Is Nelson Hysa?
Hysa turned professional in 2022 at the age of 37. He has gone 25-0 with 23 knockouts, mostly on cards around Europe. His most recent win came on August 29 at The O2 in London, on the undercard of Filip Hrgovic's ninth-round stoppage of Moses Itauma for the vacant IBF title. Hysa knocked out Thomas Narmo 36 seconds into the second round and kept his WBO Global belt. After that win he confronted Kabayel at ringside, and that confrontation started the talks that led to this fight.
Several outlets say he is not well tested. Yahoo Sports, carrying Bad Left Hook's report, called him unranked. Boxing247 noted that his recent opponents, including Narmo, Abel Pesut, Patrick Korte and Edwin Castillo, do not amount to a world-level test, and said the pairing looks like a mismatch on paper.
A Negotiation Played Out in Public
The two camps argued in public before the deal was done, and the accounts of what happened do not agree. Boxing News wrote that Frank Warren had announced Hysa was pulling out of a planned meeting. The Bad Left Hook report on Yahoo Sports says Warren suggested it was Kabayel who backed away at the last moment before changing his mind. Ringside24 reported that Kabayel had said publicly that his challenger cancelled, and that Hysa answered by showing a contract he had signed. Box-Sport and Sport1 say only that both sides disputed the other's commitment before an agreement was reached. ringtalk.com could not find a single agreed version of who stalled first.
What the Fight Means for the Heavyweight Picture
The timing is part of the reason for this fight. Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley meet again for the WBO title at The O2 on October 17, and Hrgovic now holds the IBF belt. Bad Left Hook described the Hysa fight as a way to keep Kabayel busy while those situations settle, with a unification fight a possible next step. Ringside24 named Hrgovic as a likely future opponent. The night is also a test of whether Kabayel can fill a German stadium the way the Klitschko brothers did.
For Hysa, a 42-year-old who started boxing professionally in his late thirties, this is the first world-title fight of his career. For Kabayel, a win at home would be expected. A loss would be a major upset.
Sources
- Kabayel Confirms Hysa Fight After Pullout Claim, Boxing News (boxingnews.com), 28 September 2026
- Agit Kabayel vs Nelson Hysa reportedly set for November 28 in Dusseldorf, Yahoo Sports (Bad Left Hook), September 2026
- It's official! Kabayel will face Hysa on November 28, Box-Sport, September 2026
- Boxen: Kabayel verteidigt WM-Titel im Düsseldorfer Stadion, Sport1, 2026
- Agit Kabayel Faces Nelson Hysa In Questionable Defense, Boxing247, 2026
- Agit Kabayel vs. Nelson Hysa Set for WBC Heavyweight Title Fight in Dusseldorf, Ringside24, 2026
- Live results: Moses Itauma vs. Filip Hrgovic, Fight Mag, 29 August 2026
- Ranking boxing's biggest fights in October, ESPN, 25 September 2026
- Agit Kabayel, Wikipedia, accessed 3 October 2026
- Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury, Wikipedia, accessed 3 October 2026
