While not the way he would have liked to win the heavyweight strap outright, Kabayel (27-0, 19 KOs) is the WBC titleholder.

Usyk relinquished his three sanctioning body belts on Friday.

The 33-year-old, ranked No. 2 among The Ring's contenders for Usyk's lineal championship, wrote a classy social media post Friday, praising the Ukrainian's decision to not hold up the division while pondering his next move — one that has since been described as the last dance in a storied career.

Having won and defended his interim crown with stoppage victories over Zhilei Zhang and Damian Knyba, Kabayel repeatedly pushed for a shot to unify against the two-division, three-time undisputed titlist.

Turki Alalshikh planned to discuss Usyk defending his collection of heavyweight belts on away soil once more, this time in a soldout German football stadium later this year. Instead, his vulnerable showing against Rico Verhoeven last month left more questions than answers, with age and inactivity threatening the 39-year-old's highly regarded reputation.

Kabayel told The Ring he'd wait patiently for the Usyk-Verhoeven outcome before insisting upon a long-awaited opportunity, but a month removed from their Egypt encounter it's time to celebrate making history.

He spoke of his pride at becoming the first Kurdish heavyweight champion, and the first German since Max Schmeling achieved the feat in 1932, 94 years ago.

The 15-year pro finished his post by thanking his loyal fans for their support, before adding: "I will do everything I can to hold this belt for a long time and add even more titles to my collection."

The announcement came after a Zoom video call between WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, some of the sanctioning body's board members as well as Team Kabayel — headed by Queensberry CEO George Warren and his manager Spencer Brown.

Usyk's relinquishing announcement came as a surprise, and matters have moved quickly.