On January 10 in Oberhausen, Germany, interim WBC heavyweight champion 33-year-old German Agit Kabael (27-0, 19 KOs) and 29-year-old Pole Damian Knyba (17-1, 11 KOs) fought. The conflict ended quickly, just as the thousands of fans who watched the show expected and hoped.

On the other hand, the stop caused a lot of criticism from fans of Kabael’s opponent. And you can understand why.

Agit Kabael was considered a big favorite. He fully confirmed his condition

The meeting against Damian Knyba immediately raised questions. It’s strange to switch to a little-known opponent after a series of Makhmudov, Sanchez and Zhilei.

This decision was influenced by other actions of the Germans. For example, inactivity in the ring. He hasn’t gone out to fight since the winter of 2025, when he quickly defeated Zhang Zhilei despite being knocked down. And also conversations about his meeting against Oleksandr Usyk. While the Ukrainian defeated Daniel Dubois and became the absolute champion 3 times, Kabael decided to meet with the little-known Pole.

Few people have noted Knyba’s skills, but his ability to box with the punch is really good. Few people hoped for the competition, as they had not seen Damyan in serious clashes. This is because Knyba was struggling with the powerful middle peasants, but did not grow in opposition at all. Think about it: Joy immediately moved from Dawejko to Agit Kabael!

Thousands of fans in Germany were waiting for a show from their athletes. They expected Kabael to win ahead of schedule. The Germans (and not only them) were chanting his name every time their boxer appeared on the screen. And when he gets in the ring. Then when he hits his opponent with blows.

The beginning of the meeting was interesting. Kabael missed a lot. Pole’s uppercuts flew from below. Apparently Agit also suffered a left blow to his face, as there was a scar under his right eye. Most likely the Germans even lost the 1st round. He didn’t seem helpless, but he had enough problems.

It is unclear what Pole had with him when he entered the ring dressed as a Polish warrior. He actually got knocked out in the 2nd round. He tried to move and shrug, but a few blows from his opponent seemed to frighten him. Damyan became more careful, threw less punches and therefore landed fewer strikes.

It was always impossible to run, the Ring has its limits and you can’t run away from them any further. How can you win if you don’t do the one thing that leads to results? You don’t attack.

In the 3rd round Kabael finally started to go down completely. I hit my opponent a lot and they were really hard blows. It’s not the kind that will instantly knock you out. However, they caused great inconvenience to Knyba.

At one point the referee decided to suspend Damyan. Yes, Kutup missed shots, no one will argue here. And it took more than a few seconds. And overall, nothing gave any indication that Knyba would win the fight. It was hard for him, he was worried about blows and stopped hitting whatever and how he needed.

However, the referee still decided to play the match too early. As soon as the pole was moved aside, Knieba was lifted. Although he obviously came back to consciousness pretty quickly.

I repeat, this does not mean that victory was taken away from the Poles. This means the third person in the ring may try to give him a chance. But I decided that was enough.

What happens now?

For Knyba, the coup is not so much about the defeat as it is about how the defeat happened. An early defeat early in the match against a top opponent would set him back greatly. He has no success anymore, so everyone will remember Damyan for a long time as the one who was eliminated by Kabael in the 3rd round.

Agit wants to fight for the championship. Yes, he owns the belt, but only temporarily. In fact, he can only be considered a partial champion. Kabael wants to fight for the belt and against big names. Options included Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois. Of course, Alexander Usik, but it is unlikely to meet him now.

The Ukrainian player said he wanted to fight Deontay Wilder and chose his opponent himself. Negotiations appear to be ongoing and the WBC has agreed to allow Usyk to defend his title voluntarily. This puts Agit at a huge disadvantage.

As for Wardley and Dubois, there are already different risks and different opportunities to get something from the results of the confrontation. Daniel and his team say that although they were defeated by knockout in the previous encounter, the comeback will be right after the best opponent. They also prefer to meet Wardley.

There is great demand for Fabio. Everyone saw that he could be beaten: Huni was close, and Parker put up a good fight until he got a headbutt. So anyone can have a chance, but the probability of elimination here is very high.

But from the fight against Dubois, Kabael will receive a fee, if he wins, he will be respected – that’s all. And after beating Wardley, he’ll have the full championship title as well – everything he ever wanted.

But I don’t really believe in these two fights anymore. That’s because Kabael put everything in the box at the start of the year and Wardley and Dubois don’t have an opponent yet. This means time for negotiation plus a desire to return to the ring sooner – they may not agree on this.

On the other hand, we may see Agit back in the ring soon due to his quick win. Maybe this time he will fight for the cup he has been waiting for.

former world champion george groves He shared his prediction for a possible fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma.

According to the Briton, Usik is currently capable of beating the 21-year-old player, but the situation may change in a year’s time.

Former world champion George Groves said: “I think Usyk will beat Moses Itauma now. But maybe in 12 months he won’t be able to do it. And then it will be like passing the baton.”

Previously, star British heavyweight Moses Itauma had talked about a possible fight against WBA, WBC and IBF world champion Alexander Usyk. The young boxer drew attention to the age of the Ukrainian football player and his path to the heavyweight league.

On the night of January 11, in Brooklyn, USA, the fight for the WBC junior heavyweight belt took place between 33-year-old Puerto Rican belt holder Subriel Matias (23-3, 22 KOs) and 28-year-old Briton Dalton Smith (19-0, 14 KOs). Mathias is expected to be physically dominant, angry and tough on his opponent at all times.

But this time he fell for his own tricks.

Matthias was almost caught for doping. But that didn’t help him win

The fight between Subriel Matias and Dalton Smith did not turn into an event that disrupted the news agenda. A good confrontation between a classy, ​​confident champion and a strong opponent. But then it was the champion who put him in a situation that attracted attention.

Matthias was caught doping. During the check, prohibited substances were found in his body. There was about a month until the start of the conflict, so the possibility of cancellation was discussed.

There was no need to do this. It turned out that Subriel did not have much of the substance in his body. Conditional “acceptable standard” for the state commission. It may seem strange, but it is true: There is an acceptable doping limit. Smith’s team agreed to fight due to these conditions and the fact that camp was almost complete.

Although Dalton’s promoter Eddie Hearn was surprised. He asked: If there is doping in the body, why is the boxer not disqualified?

This issue is particularly sensitive given Matthias’ personality. It was in a duel that Russian Maxim Dadashev received fatal injuries. Subriel’s career shows that he excels with his strength; only one losing opponent was able to hang with him all rounds. Mathias is not a hard puncher, but the speed and number of his punches destroy his opponents. Fans logically asked if this was a coincidence or the first time a Puerto Rican had been caught doping.

This is what was traditionally expected from the champion in the ring: pressure, lots of punches and attempts to score on the opponent. From the first seconds he began to do just that.

Matthias spent the first 3 minutes in traditional pursuit mode. He usually does this while trying to find his range by overwhelming his opponent with barely any punches. It is important for Subriel not only to reach a suitable distance to attack, but also to stay there long enough to hit with a combination.

Smith didn’t look very good the entire time. He moved, tried to box against such an opponent. But somehow everything didn’t go so well. The boxer from England could not maintain his balance and adapt to his opponent.

At one point it looked like the champion had paid the price. He was not affected by his opponent’s blows, the pressure increased even more. Fortunately, Dalton Smith did not do what Damyan Knyba did in the fight against Agit Kabael: he did not stop attacking.

Quite the opposite. The Briton regrouped and tried to put pressure on the champion. Put it in a different location and it worked. Mathias doesn’t work well against his opponent, but he was forced to retreat here. The Briton’s blows began to have a greater visual impact. Smith wasn’t afraid to enter trades and hit back hard.

This gave almost instant results. Already in the 5th round Dalton hit his opponent. The Puerto Rican champion took the lead but it didn’t take long for the Briton to finish the race.

Matthias stood up. However, the referee evaluated his situation and decided to end the match immediately.

What happens now?

This was Mathias’ third defeat among the pros. But the first one is ahead of schedule. On the one hand, his style had to lead to this at some point. Subriel missed a lot and his head should have failed. On the other hand, this incident took place right after the Puerto Rican was caught on doping charges. Accordingly, this issue attracted more attention. Is it possible that this also affects the result? It wasn’t often to see Matthias physically break down and withdraw.

This is a turning point for Dalton Smith. He deserved this result a long time ago, but this time it confirmed everything.

Now there is an interesting situation in the junior heavyweight division. On January 31, Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson will fight for the WBO belt. Additionally, Keyshawn Davis will make his major league debut. Maybe it will go further, maybe it won’t; We must watch.

Gary Antoine Russell also holds the WBA belt and Alberto Puello holds the WBC belt. Judging by the reactions on social networks, the meeting with the second is exactly what fans prefer to see.

Matias fought Puello in 2025 and won by majority decision. So this meeting seems logical and for this reason. And because of the style of boxers. And because of the logic of combining the belts. And Alberto can easily fly to England to make good money from the show.

At that moment, the winner of the Stevenson-Lopez duo will be determined. It is also a matter of curiosity whether Shakur will remain in the division as he is considering returning to lightweight. And it is not far from even more high-profile associations there.

With this victory, Dalton Smith paved the way for both great fights and excellent wages. And the interesting thing is that there will be absolutely no major underdogs in most matchups in this league.