5 days ago
Badou Jack vs Noel Mikaelian rematch ordered by WBC after appeal from Don King
A rematch has been ordered between WBC cruiserweight champion Badou Jack and Noel Mikaelian, after an appeal by Don King Productions was upheld.
Jack defeated Mikaelian via majority decision in May, on the undercard of Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez's win against William Scull, with some fans feeling that the result could have gone the other way.
An appeal was made by Mikaelian's promoter, and has subsequently been 'granted' by the WBC. A statement from organisation read: 'The WBC Board of Governors has reviewed all the different matters pertaining to the Cruiserweight division and has finalized its voting process, which results in the following ruling.
'The WBC has granted the appeal presented by Don King Productions and is ordering a direct rematch between Badou Jack [and] Noel Mikaelyan. Free negotiations begin today (June 2nd), and if there is no agreement, a purse bid will take place July 1st, 2025.'
There was further clarification of the cruiserweight landscape by the WBC, which outlined the status of its interim belt. Yamil Peralta and Ryan Rozicki had fought for the strap in December, only to draw and leave the title vacant.
No 10-ranked Jean Pascal will face Michal Cieslak, rated fifth by the WBC, at the end of the month, with the winner facing WBC silver champ Peralta, who is ranked third at cruiserweight.
Second-placed Rozicki remains injured, and so must provide an update to preserve his spot in the WBC's rating.
The WBC's cruiserweight crown has been a point of contention for some time. Jack earned world-champion status at a third different weight in February 2023, defeating Ilunga Makabu with a 12th-round knockout.
Makabu had been set to face Mikaelian, then holding the WBC silver title, in a mandatory defence, only for the bout to be postponed less than a month out from fight night. It was only a month later that Makabu would go on to fight Jack, losing in three rounds the belt he had held for nearly three years.
In September 2023, Jack announced that he would challenge for a world title at bridgerweight, vacating and becoming champion in recess.
Makabu was given a shot at regaining his belt against the new mandatory challenger, Mikaelian. However, the Armenian-German would produce a fourth-round stoppage to secure the vacant cruiserweight title and become a world champion for the first time.
Mikaelian never got the chance to defend his belt inside the ring. A fight with Rozicki encountered many postponements due to injuries, before legal issues between Mikaelian and promoter King saw him withdraw from the fight entirely.
At the end of 2024, with neither Jack nor Mikaelian fighting since their respective wins over Makabu, a decision was reached to reinstate the former as world champion, dropping the latter to champion in recess.
Ironically, an injury to Rozicki enabled Mikaelian to get a shot at reinstated champion Jack.
