The 34-year-old German, The Ring’s No. 2 contender for Oleksandr Usyk’s crown, will put his green and gold belt on the line against Nelson Hysa (25-0, 23 KOs) at Dusseldorf’s ESPRIT Arena on November 28, live on DAZN.

It will be Kabayel’s first fight since he was elevated from interim belt-holder to full WBC champion following Usyk’s decision in June to vacate the last three of his sanctioning body belts.

During an interview with Louis Hart for The Ring’s YouTube channel, Kabayel (27-0, 19 KOs) stated the fact he achieved his dream of becoming world heavyweight champion will only truly “sink in” once he is victorious inside the ring.

“Maybe after this fight, definitely, it will feel like that,” Kabayel said. “Usyk gave up all of his belts and this is my first fight since then. After the fight I will feel very great.

“You see the situation with the heavyweights – all the interim champions were moved up when Usyk [gave] up all his belts. So, I think after this fight, I will be happy, more happy than now.”

Kabayel had hoped to win the title by dethroning Usyk and pushed hard for a fight with the unbeaten Ukrainian southpaw. Usyk ultimately decided against fulfilling any of his mandatory obligations by relinquishing all his titles in a move that sent shockwaves through the boxing world.

“I tried everything,” Kabayel said. “I made so much noise, I made videos on Instagram, I called him out and I went to Egypt. And after his fight [with Rico Verhoeven], I asked him for the chance to fight him.

“I think I did everything that was in my hands. The fight cannot happen, so I only focus on myself. Now I will show what comes in the future.”

Regardless of Usyk’s decision not to fight him, Kabayel has emerged as a huge star of the division and one of the biggest ticket-sellers in all of world boxing.

More than 35,000 of the 43,000 available for his clash with Albania’s Hysa are said to have been snapped up already. Kabayel’s promoter, Frank Warren, expects a sellout for this optional title defense versus Hysa.

The last time ESPRIT Arena hosted world championship boxing was in November 2015. Tyson Fury ushered in a new era for the heavyweight division that night, when he became the first man to beat Wladimir Klitschko in more than 11 years.

More than a decade later, Kabayel is ready to signal the start of another chapter.

“This is my era,” he said. “The Kabayel era. We have brought boxing back to Germany and so many boxers have written to me on Instagram to say, ‘Thank you for bringing boxing back to Germany.’ For a long time we have not had big fights here, but now, this is great.”