Noel Mikaelian Regains WBC Cruiserweight Crown by Narrowly Toppling Badou Jack in Los Angeles
Noel Mikaelian defeated Badou Jack by a unanimous decision in Los Angeles, reclaiming the WBC cruiserweight title. After narrowly losing to Jack in May and dropping the belt, the German fighter delivered a convincing performance on Saturday, with all three judges scoring the bout 115-111, 116-110, and 116-110 in Mikaelian’s favor.
The fight was a gritty, hard-fought battle. Mikaelian, 35, even faced a one-point deduction in the seventh round for delivering a punch to the back of Jack’s head. A separate point was taken from Jack in the eighth round after punching after the bell, escalating tensions as officials and both corners needed to intervene to separate the two when the action spilled past the bell.
With this victory, Mikaelian improves to 28 wins and 3 losses in 31 fights, while Jack shifts to 29 wins, 4 defeats, and 3 draws across 36 bouts.