Kabayel Fought Through an Early Cut to Stop Knyba at Home
Agit Kabayel retained his interim WBC heavyweight championship by stopping Damian Knyba in the third round on January 10, 2026. The homecoming main event at Rudolf Weber Arena in Oberhausen ended at 2:36 after Kabayel’s pressure overcame the challenger’s promising start.
The taller challenger found success before Kabayel closed the distance
Knyba used his height and reach to land right hands and uppercuts, opening a cut over Kabayel’s right eye in the first round. The Polish contender entered unbeaten with seventeen victories.
Kabayel was defending the interim belt he had won by stopping Zhilei Zhang the previous February. The early injury required an adjustment rather than allowing a comfortable beginning before his home supporters.
Body attacks shifted the contest in the champion’s favor
Kabayel began getting inside more consistently in the second round. His punches to the body increased the pressure on Knyba and helped reduce the effectiveness of the longer-range attacks.
Heavy right hands followed in the third. Referee Mark Lyson stopped the contest as Knyba continued receiving punishment, awarding Kabayel a technical knockout before the round ended.
Another unbeaten opponent fell during Kabayel’s championship pursuit
Kabayel improved to 27–0 with nineteen knockouts, while Knyba suffered his first professional defeat and fell to 17–1. More than fourteen thousand supporters attended the Oberhausen event.
Afterward, Kabayel called for an opportunity against Oleksandr Usyk. The title defense supplied another significant result while demonstrating his ability to recover from early damage and impose his close-range body attack.
Sources
- Queensberry: official event card and results
- FIGHTMAG: date, venue, records and stoppage times
- WBC: cut, referee intervention and title defense
