Agit Kabayel’s November 28 defense against Nelson Hysa is a difficult fight to get excited about when the challenger is 42 and has yet to beat an established leading heavyweight contender. The kickoff press conference offered plenty of promises, but little reason to believe Hysa can take his WBC title.

“This is a great fight,” Frank Warren said at the press conference, pointing to Hysa’s 25 wins and 23 knockouts. “These guys can punch.”

Those numbers sound impressive until you examine the opponents. Hysa’s recent victories include Thomas Narmo, Abel Pesut, Patrick Korte and Edwin Castillo. Several entered unbeaten, but none of those wins establish that Hysa is ready to beat a fighter of Kabayel’s level. BoxRec lists Hysa at 25–0 with 23 knockouts, a record that looks better than the names behind it.

He also remains outside the WBC’s top 15. The organization’s October announcement lists him as a new entry at No. 18, which makes the choice harder to justify on sporting merit.

Kabayel defended the selection by explaining that his team had spoken with numerous fighters and nobody from the top was available. Hysa then offered himself in England.

“My goal on November 28 is to deliver,” Kabayel said, translated from German.

That explains how Hysa got the opportunity. It doesn’t establish that he earned it. A champion needing an available opponent and a challenger deserving a world title shot are separate questions.

Hysa leaned on his unbeaten record to defend his position.

“I have 25 wins, zero losses,” he said. “I want to say to him, sorry, but I come here to take.”

When a reporter asked about his lack of experience at championship level, Hysa argued that facing a different style would show what level he belongs at. That leaves the title fight itself as his first real proof that he belongs among the leading heavyweights.

The event may do well in Germany, where Kabayel has strong support, and Hysa can bring Albanian fans. Warren repeatedly emphasized ticket demand. However, that local appeal gives viewers elsewhere little reason to expect a competitive fight.

Hysa’s age alone doesn’t rule out an upset. His record is the bigger concern. He hasn’t produced the win that would make this opportunity look overdue, and repeating his knockout total is unlikely to create much interest before November 28.

Jermall Charlo still hopes to face Canelo Alvarez before hanging up the gloves, but his sporadic appearances in the ring make that goal tough to sell. Facing Koen Mazoudier gets him moving again, yet it does nothing to prove he belongs among the elite at 168 pounds.

“I do want to fight Canelo before it’s all said and done, but I’m not going to be a Canelo chaser. Who knows, man,” Charlo told Fight Hub TV.

Now 36, Jermall is running out of road. Having laced up the gloves just three times since 2021, he steps into the ring on October 17 following a 17-month layoff after his victory over Thomas LaManna.

That inactivity remains the real hurdle. Staging a single return only to vanish for months stalls any momentum and keeps everyone wondering what he has left. Past belts at junior middleweight and middleweight still carry name recognition, yet they prove nothing about his standing as a super middleweight today.

Mazoudier offers a tuneup, but brushing aside an unheralded opponent will not convince the public that a Canelo meeting makes sense. Jermall needs a genuine test against a proven contender at 168, paired with consistent ring time to show he is truly back.

Back in 2023, the chance to fight Canelo shifted to his twin, Jermell, who dropped a wide decision. Three years down the line, Jermall remains focused on that matchup without collecting the meaningful wins needed to demand it.

Relying on Canelo to be there later is a massive gamble. The Mexican star has Christian Mbilli in front of him, a result capable of reshaping the landscape at 168 pounds overnight. Charlo simply cannot build a career timeline around a champion who holds all the cards.

Claiming he refuses to chase the Mexican superstar sounds fine in soundbites, but backing it up requires targeting opponents who force the issue. If Jermall gets past Mazoudier, he must jump straight into a top-tier super middleweight clash instead of retreating into another extended layoff.

Targeting Osleys Iglesias would force the division to pay attention. Iglesias represents everything the marquee names at 168 have spent the past two years ducking: a southpaw Cuban puncher with devastating power, sharp fundamentals, and zero commercial incentive for anyone looking for an easy night.

If Charlo wants to shed the perception that he is merely coasting on his past name value while angling for a Canelo lottery ticket, Iglesias is the exact litmus test to take. Tearing the IBF belt away from a boogeyman nobody wants to touch would do more for Jermall in one night than three years of passive posturing ever could. It strips away any excuse for Canelo to look past him.

Of course, the entire dynamic hinges on what happens on October 31st. Mbilli brings a relentless pace that could easily batter the remaining tread off Canelo’s tires. If Mbilli pulls off the upset or roughs Canelo up enough to alter his twilight plans, chasing Canelo becomes completely pointless anyway. By targeting Iglesias instead, Charlo would establish real championship leverage at 168 on his own terms, regardless of whose hand gets raised at the end of October.

Tyson Fury has shared his thoughts on whether or not David Benavidez can become a formidable heavyweight operator.

The 29-year-old has already expressed his interest in moving up in weight but, first, he is attempting to cement himself as a dominant world champion at 200lbs.

In order to do so, Benavidez must defeat Jai Opetaia – the other consensus top-two cruiserweight – who he is targeting for a Cinco de Mayo showdown in 2027.

Before that, though, the three-division world champion is expected to face Michal Cieslak in December, bidding to add the WBC title to his collection of WBO and WBA cruiserweight belts.

He claimed those two straps against Gilberto Ramirez, who he dethroned with a sixth-round stoppage while making his 200lb debut in May.

As a result, many feel that ‘The Mexican Monster’ has the ability to compete at heavyweight, where he was linked to an unexpected opportunity after it seemed Fury’s clash with Anthony Joshua was close to being scuppered.

Instead, it was announced that the two Brits will collide on December 11, but ‘The Gypsy King’ nonetheless told FuriociTV that Benavidez would be a much tougher opponent than Joshua.

“What a fight that [Fury-Benavidez] would be. The only thing is that, with David Benavidez, he’s about a four to five times harder fight than Joshua.

“I’ll take it because that’s what I do – there’s not a man on this earth that I won’t fight. But never think that Joshua’s a tougher fight than David Benavidez. He stops Joshua in about three rounds.”

While he was briefly linked to a Fury clash, Benavidez’s father and trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr, has also expressed an interest in his son fighting Andy Ruiz Jr.