Kabayel (27-0, 19 KOs) is The Ring's No. 2 contender and the WBC titleholder, an honor bestowed upon him after he was elevated from interim champion once Oleksandr Usyk vacated his IBF, WBA and WBC belts in June. Kabayel last fought in January during a homecoming in Germany, where he stopped Damien Knyba in the third round.

That victory aged incredibly well after Knyba beat former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz by unanimous decision September 4 in Newark, New Jersey.

Kabayel is waiting for his counterparts to make their next moves so he can do the same. Here is how the top of the division stands:

■ Usyk, who still owns The Ring title, appears headed toward a farewell fight against Deontay Wilder in America before retiring.

■ Daniel Dubois is scheduled to defend his WBO belt against Fabio Wardley in a rematch October 17 at O2 Arena in London.

■ Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are supposed to finally fight, perhaps December 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

■ Recently crowned IBF champion Filip Hrgovic is contractually obligated to face mandatory challenger Frank Sanchez next sometime in the winter after upsetting Moses Itauma by ninth-round TKO on August 29.

■ Murat Gassiev, the WBA beltholder, will likely defend his title against American Jarrell Miller.

So, considering the current picture, where does that leave Kabayel to find a credible challenge for the first defense of his WBC title?

“I’m talking to the team at Queensbury, but the situation is not easy,” he told Playbook Boxing. “Nobody is available. From the top guys, no one is available. Maybe this year we make one fight. We will see. For me, I want to fight with Fury or AJ or with Hrgovic for the belt. But the problem is, which one is available? This is a problem.

“I think that the guys that you have right now, you have the big names in the heavyweight division. I say this all the time, I’ll fight everyone. I’m not scared of the guys. I can fight with Tyson, I can fight with AJ and I can fight also with Wilder. The problem is I have to wait.”

The remaining and most viable names available for Kabayel are David Adeleye, Jared Anderson, Solomon Dacres, Justis Huni, Lawrence Okolie, Joseph Parker and Tony Yoka.

Kabayel also finds himself in a surprise beef with Nelson Hysa (25-0, 23 KOs), a 42-year-old Albanian who has 19 straight stoppages and six victories since last year. But Hysa isn’t ranked in the WBC top 15 and none of his wins has been recorded against the caliber of fighters Kabayel has crushed — Zhilei Zhang, Sanchez, Arslanbek Makhmudov and Knyba.

“I see Nelson Hysa talking a lot of bulls***. I will teach him respect," Kabayel said. "But first of all, I need to make the title defense, and after that we’ll show them.”

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan