Tyson Fury close to sealing London fight with German heavyweight Agit Kabayel in December

Kabayel, a former sparring partner of Anthony Joshua’s, is not a major name in the division but has an impressive undefeated record of 20 wins including 13 knockouts

Tyson Fury has chosen to fight the German former European heavyweight champion Agit Kabayel at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 5 December. Fury’s camp say they have given the 28-year-old Kabayel 24 hours to sign the contract or they will “move on”.

Fury was due to fight Deontay Wilder in a trilogy bout but their contract has now expired and the WBC champion has set his sights on eventually facing Anthony Joshua next year in what would be one of the biggest fights in British boxing history.

Kabayel, a former sparring partner of Joshua’s, is not a major name in the division but has an impressive undefeated record of 20 wins including 13 knockouts, and beat Briton’s Derek Chisora in 2017 by a majority decision. 

Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, told TalkSport on Monday: “We’re giving the guy we wanna fight, which is Kabayel, we’re giving him 24 hours now to sign the contract or we’re gonna move on. He’s undefeated and has a win on his record over Derek Chisora. He [was] the European champion and he’s ranked by the WBC. That’s who’s sitting at the moment on a contract and we’re waiting.

“He’s got about 24 hours now to make his mind up to sign it and send it back or we’ll move on. He’s the fight, subject to the contract being signed.”