Zhang vs Kabayel

Who won Zhang vs Kabayel?

Agit Kabayel beat Zhilei Zhang by knockout in the 6th round on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025, at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Heavyweight division, which meant there was no weight limit.

This contest was for the WBC heavyweight championship of the world.

Zhang was defending his WBC Interim World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. He won this belt against Agit Kabayel in February 2025.He had held this belt for 1 month and 3 days.

This fight appeared on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev losing to Dmitry Bivol for the IBF World Light Heavyweight, WBA Super World Light Heavyweight, WBC World Light heavyweight and WBO World Light heavyweight championship. Also on the undercard Joseph Parker beat Martin Bakole for the WBO Interim World Heavyweight belt, Carlos Adames defeated Hamzah Sheeraz for the WBC World Middleweight title, Vergil Ortiz Jr was victorious over Israil Madrimov, Joshua Buatsi lost to Callum Smith for the WBO Interim World Light Heavyweight championship, Shakur Stevenson defeated Josh Padley for the WBC World Lightweight championship, and Ziyad Almaayouf was victorious over Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira.

Zhang vs Kabayel stats

Zhilei Zhang stepped into the ring with a record of 27 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw.

Agit Kabayel made his way to the ring with an unblemished record of 25 wins and 0 draws.

Zhilei Zhang was the older man by 9 years, at 41 years old.

Zhang had a height advantage of 3 inches over Kabayel. Despite this, Kabayel had a 2-inch reach advantage.

Zhilei Zhang fought out of the southpaw stance, while Agit Kabayel was an orthodox fighter.

Zhang was arguably the less experienced fighter, having had 5 more fights, and made his debut in 2014, 3 years and 1 month later than Kabayel, whose first professional fight was in 2011. He had fought 15 fewer professional rounds, totaling 116 compared to Kabayel's 131.

Zhilei Zhang went into the fight ranked number 8 by the WBA, 2 by the WBC, and 1 by the WBO at heavyweight.

Agit Kabayel was ranked number 6 by the WBA, 1 by the WBC, and 3 by the WBO in the Heavyweight division.

Zhang vs Kabayel form

Zhilei Zhang had stopped 3 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had beaten Deontay Wilder on June 1, 2024, by technical knockout in the 5th round at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Prior to that, he had been beaten by Joseph Parker on March 8, 2024, by majority decision in their WBO Interim World Heavyweight championship fight at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Joe Joyce on September 23, 2023, by knockout in the 3rd round in their WBO Interim World Heavyweight championship fight at OVO Arena Wembley, London, United Kingdom.

Before that, he had won against Joe Joyce on April 15, 2023, by technical knockout in the 6th round in their WBO Interim World Heavyweight championship fight at Copper Box Arena, London.

He had lost to Filip Hrgovic on August 20, 2022, by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest at Jeddah Superdome, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Kabayel remained undefeated as a professional, stopping 3 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had beaten Frank Sanchez on May 18, 2024, by knockout in the 7th round in their WBC World Heavyweight eliminator fight at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Prior to that, he had beaten Arslanbek Makhmudov on December 23, 2023, by technical knockout in the 4th round at KINGDOM ARENA, Riyadh.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Agron Smakici on March 4, 2023, by technical knockout in the 3rd round at RuhrCongress, Bochum, Germany.

Before that, he had won against Kevin Johnson on June 5, 2021, by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest at Seebühne Elbauenpark, Sachsen-Anhalt.

He had defeated Evgenios Lazaridis on July 18, 2020, by unanimous decision in their 10 round contest at Seebühne Elbauenpark, Sachsen-Anhalt.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Zhilei Zhang had been fighting more than Agit Kabayel.

Going into this contest, Zhilei Zhang had last fought 8 months and 21 days ago, while Agit Kabayel's last outing had been 9 months and 4 days ago.

Zhang's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 6 months and 2 days, which means he had been fighting approximately every 6 months and 2 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 38 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 7.6 rounds on average.

Kabayel's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 7 months and 4 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 11 months and 2 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 36 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 7.2 rounds on average.

What time did Zhang vs Kabayel start?

The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 6:15 PM UTC at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which was 1:15 PM EST or 10:15 AM PST on the West Coast of America, or 6:15 PM GMT in the UK.

Who broadcast Zhang vs Kabayel?

Zhang vs Kabayel was broadcast on DAZN PPV in both the United States and the UK.

What were the odds on Zhang vs Kabayel?

Zhilei Zhang was a 13/10 (+130) underdog going into the contest, while Agit Kabayel made his way into the ring at 61/100 (-170) with oddsmakers.