Noel Mikaeljan-Ryan Rozicki WBC Title Fight Rescheduled for December 7 in Sydney, Nova Scotia
It wasn’t a brilliant afternoon for the #PurseBidHeads, but a big one for Ryan Rozicki and his team.
The Ring has confirmed that an eleventh-hour deal has been reached to postpone Rozicki’s challenge for WBC cruiserweight Noel Mikaeljan. Their oft-postponed title fight has now been rescheduled for Dec. 7 at Center 200 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Don King Productions and Three Lions Promotions, the promoters of Mikaeljan and Rozicki, respectively, were able to meet on Friday afternoon. A common reason was discovered minutes before the hearing of the scheduled financial application which was withdrawn as a result.
Mikaejan (27-2, 12 knockouts) will now have to travel to Rozicki’s hometown to defend his first title.
“We were able to make a deal with Don King a few minutes before the deadline, Three Lions Promotions head Daniel Otter told The Ring. “We are very happy to bring the world title to Canada.
“Ryan is ready to be world champion and eager to get in the ring.”
That eagerness could not be overstated enough.
Mikaeljan-Rozicki has endured four postponements. Problems have arisen since Mikaeljan was killed during a training camp since their fight date scheduled for June 7.
The latest restructuring effort had two meetings headlined by the September 28 Don King show at Casino Miami Jai Alai in Miami, Florida. However, the show was canceled without explanation from the King’s office.
This led the WBC to step down, re-order the title fight and send the matter to the hearing of the money request. For now, the sanctions body is happy with the latest outcome.
“This is going to be an unbelievable fight,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told The Ring. “I am happy that the fight for the WBC cruiserweight title will be in the ring before the end of this year.”
The fight site marks a true home game for Rozicki (20-1, 19 KOs).
The main players in this building are the Cape Breton Eagles of the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League.
Rozicki (20-1, 19 KOs) is also a regular. He has headlined or featured in all six boxing events to appear on the site in the 21st century. The most recent came out Dec. 2022 with a first-round submission of Mario Aguilar (23-9, 19 KOs).
The remaining four bouts add to Rozicki’s impressive record as he emerges as a WBC cruiserweight contender. Delays in the title fight have kept him out of the ring since his first round loss to Olanrewaju Durodola (46-10, 41 KOs) last Dec. 3 in Sydney.
In total, the 29-year-old has won seven in a row dating back to his October 2021 loss to Oscar Rivas. Their highly anticipated fight marked the first fight for the WBC Bridgerweight title.
His scheduled title challenge to Mikaeljan would have marked Rozicki’s first fight outside of Canada.
Now it’s Mikaeljan who starts to hit the road and fight another promoter’s plan.
Mikaeljan, ranked number 2 at 200 by The Ring, won the belt in the third round against former titleholder Ilunga Makabu last November 4 in his hometown of Miami. The Armenian, 33, remains the only active roster spot on King’s current roster.
Rozicki is The Ring’s No. 8-rated cruiserweight.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
