Report: Noel Mikaeljan again withdraws from defense vs. Ryan Rozicki

Norair Mikaeljan has withdrawn from his December 7 ordered WBC cruiserweight title defense against Ryan Rozicki, reports Jake Donovan.

“Told that Noel Mikaeljan has once again withdrawn from ordered WBC cruiserweight title defense vs. Ryan Rozicki,” Donovan reported on Monday in a post from his X account.

Originally scheduled for June 7, the fight was put off when Armenia’s Mikaeljan (also known as Noel Gevor Mikaelyan) suffered a cut in training. According to several reports, Mikaeljan’s defense against Canada’s Rozicki has now been postponed five times.

Donovan reports that, as a result, the WBC has approved an interim title fight between Rozicki, 20-1 (19 KOs), and No. 2 WBC challenger Yamil Peralta, 17-1 (9 KOs), and notes that it is “widely believed” that the winner of that fight will be upgraded to the organization’s full titleholder.

Mikaeljan, 27-2, (12 KOs), won his version of the cruiser title last November in a third-round stoppage of Ilunga Junior Makabu.