Nelson Hysa withdraws from agreed Agit Kabayel title fight

Nelson Hysa has withdrawn from an agreed fight with WBC heavyweight champion Agit Kabayel, according to promoter Frank Warren.

Warren said Hysa had agreed terms and completed the contract process before changing his mind several days later. Kabayel will instead defend his title against a top-10 opponent in Germany, with an announcement planned for this week.

“[Hysa] came into the office, we agreed terms; contract and everything done; and he sent a message a couple of days later saying he didn’t want the fight,” Warren told IFL TV. “So we’re moving on. We’re announcing Agit’s fight next week. All I’m in is the Agit Kabayel business in Germany. He’s going to have a top 10 opponent, and he’ll defend his title. And he’s looking next year to unify.”

Hysa, 42, had publicly pursued the fight before stopping Thomas Narmo in the second round at London’s O2 Arena on August 29. The unbeaten Albanian confronted Kabayel afterwards, having previously argued that their German and Albanian support would make the contest commercially attractive.

Before facing Narmo, Hysa said Kabayel’s team had approached him twice and insisted he had earned a major heavyweight opportunity through his appearances for Queensberry.

“Kabayel, he needs to fight me,” Hysa said. “I am 24-0. So I never lose one match. I’m showing everything. I go to Queensberry two times, win the fights. This is the third fight. If I win here, all the people, all my fans, all Agit Kabayel fans are calling for me. This will be interesting match.”

Hysa improved to 25-0 with 23 stoppages when a right hand ended his fight with Narmo early in the second round. He was not ranked by the WBC, although he held positions with the WBA and WBO. He had also been considered as an opponent for Tyson Fury before Fury instead fought Mariusz Wach in July.

Warren said he was surprised by Hysa’s decision. “For somebody to turn down a world title fight is beyond me,” he said. “Most fighters dream of fighting for the world title.”

Neither Warren nor Hysa has publicly given a reason for the withdrawal.

Kabayel, 33, was elevated from interim to full WBC champion in June after Oleksandr Usyk vacated the belt. The Kurdish-German won the interim title by stopping Zhilei Zhang in the sixth round and later defeated Damian Knyba, following earlier stoppage victories over Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov.

His next appearance will be his first defence since being elevated to full champion. Warren said Kabayel’s replacement opponent will be named next week, with the champion then targeting a unification fight next year.