Noel Mikaelyan is set to take the first step in an effort to regain his old title.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The former WBC cruiserweight titlist is set to return to the ring on May 17, per a vague release from the office of Don King Productions. Mikaelyan is due to face Isaiah Thompson in a regional cruiserweight title fight at a location to be determined in Florida, where both fighters and DKP are all based.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The show will also feature outspoken fringe welterweight contender Blair \u2018The Flair\u2019 Cobbs, 17-1-1 (10 KOs), who has not fought since a June 7 points win over former four-division titlist Adrien Broner. The show marked the last event presented by DKP, who promotes both Mikaelyan and Cobbs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mikaelyan, 27-2 (12 KOs), was due to appear on that June 7 show in a title defense against Canada\u2019s Ryan Rozicki, 20-1-1 (19 KOs). A reported injury suffered by Mikaelyan\u2014an Armenian boxer who fights out of the greater Miami area\u2014forced the first of several postponements in the ordered WBC cruiserweight title fight before its outright cancellation.<\/p>\n
It was later learned that Mikaelyan was in litigation with King, which forced him to relinquish his title and accept a downgrade to WBC \u2018Champion in Recess.\u2019<\/p>\n
The legal matter was since resolved, though not before Badou Jack\u2014the former title claimant before he vacated the belt\u2014was reinstated as WBC cruiserweight titlist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jack, 28-3-3 (17 KOs), was due next to face Rozicki on the May 3 Riyadh Season show headlined by the Saul \u2018Canelo\u2019 Alvarez-William Scull undisputed super middleweight championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That fight was canceled after Rozicki suffered a bicep injury in training.<\/p>\n
Mikaelyan\u2019s return should signal a pathway to challenge for that belt, the one perk that comes with the \u2018Champion in Recess\u2019 designation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The May 17 return will mark Mikaelyan\u2019s first fight since he won the WBC belt. It came in a November 2023 third-round knockout of Ilunga \u2018Junior\u2019 Makabu, though his 13-month reign went without a single defense. Still, the feat extended his current four-fight win streak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thompson, 10-4-2 (9 KOs), represents the type of made-to-order opponent to help shake off ring rust.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old North Carolina native is coming off a six-round, majority decision defeat to clubfighter Juan Carlos Raygosa on March 15 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The win snapped a three-fight win streak, all of which took place entirely in Colombia versus questionable competition.<\/p>\n
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n