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Usyk handed two-fight plan as His Excellency Turki Alalshikh outlines finale
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Oleksandr Usyk should fight Agit Kabayel before taking a rematch with Rico Verhoeven, says His Excellency Turki Alalshikh.
The Ukrainian secured a controversial late stoppage win over the Dutch crossover star in his latest outing on Saturday night.
On the back foot against the kickboxer, Usyk was turning the tide before referee Mark Lyson stepped in to halt proceedings.
That has sparked a desire for a rematch, but His Excellency wants WBC interim star Kabayel to get his long-awaited shot first.
Is Kabayel next for Usyk after Rico win?
Relive Glory in Giza here
"It is the call of Usyk now," he told The Ring. "Kabayel has waited a long time. We want to do the fight in a stadium in Germany.
"After that, we want to see the rematch with Rico. It was a bad stoppage [by the referee]. Rico deserved to continue the fight.
"It's clear that Usyk was controlling [matters near] the end, but the referee should have allowed the fight to reach a clear result."
Usyk previously outlined plans to fight twice more before retirement, though his planned roadmap now appears to be up in the air.
Should Usyk take Rico rematch?
DAZN News correspondent Andrew Steel
Few gave Rico Verhoeven much beyond a puncher's chance against Oleksandr Usyk last weekend when the pair met in Giza.
Instead, the Dutchman is now pushing for a second bout after controversy ensured he did not go the distance with the Ukrainian.
There is unlikely to have been a rematch clause in the event of an Usyk victory, of course, limiting the relative options at hand.
But more pertinently, it seems unlikely that the heavyweight champion will want to entertain a second banana-skin encounter.
At the end of the day, Agit Kabayel awaits. For Usyk, to reaffirm he is top dog, the German appears to be the option to pursue.
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