The WBC will sanction an interim title fight between top-rated heavyweights Agit Kabayel and Zhilei Zhang.
Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are set to duke it out for the WBC’s full world title along with the WBA and WBO belts on December 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The winner of Zhang vs Kabayel will be the WBC’s No.1 contender but won’t be given an immediate mandatory shot[/caption]
Zhang and Kabayel were both recently ordered to face Martin Bakole in an IBF final eliminator.
But they are now slated to square off against each other for the green and gold trinket.
If they had gone down the IBF route and beaten Bakole, either man would be in line for an immediate mandatory shot against the IBF world champion – currently Daniel Dubois.
However, they won’t be afforded the same luxury by the WBC, who insist they will not enforce a mandatory for the winner of Usyk vs Fury II straight away.
“The WBC has received a formal request to sanction such fight for the Interim title and the WBC will accept to sanction it,” WBC president, Mauricio Sulaiman told Sky Sports.
“Why? Because we have done everything possible for the past several years to reach the ultimate, great fights in each weight category, especially in the heavyweights.
“All this time we have been perfectly clear and transparent that the WBC will not impose any mandatory that goes against having the ultimate undisputed champion because they’re fighting the best available.
“There’s no better fight than Usyk-Fury. So with that fighting happening, and then the possibilities for the future, we have accepted the No.2 and the No.3 to fight for the Interim title.
“Keep them active and keep the division having the best fights possible.”
Usyk defeated Fury in May to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.
But the Ukrainian was forced to vacate the IBF belt due to his contracted rematch with Fury getting in the way of a fight with the major sanctioning body’s mandatory, Dubois.
As a result, Dubois was upgraded from interim to full world champion and made the first defence of his title in September by knocking out Anthony Joshua.
“For the winner of December 21 there’s many options,” Sulaiman added.
“Why should anyone get in the way of a third fight, or the fight again for undisputed [against Dubois] or any high-level event while we can accommodate the champion, [and have a] fight for an Interim title where the winner is going to be a high-level sensational possibility?
“So we’re all for having undisputed champions.”
Zhang and Kabayel have been in excellent form as of late.
Kabayel is coming off two impressive wins over Arslanbek Makhmudov and Frank Sanchez.
Meanwhile, Zhang scored a scintillating knockout win over Deontay Wilder last time out.
The fight promises fireworks with Kabayel’s all-action pressure fighting and Zhang’s devastating counterpunching sure to gel well stylistically.
