The WBC has sent a formal letter to Noel Mikaelian promoter Don King, asking the fighter to commit to either moving toward a Zuffa Boxing match versus that promotion’s cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia or accept his WBC title defense versus unified champion David Benavidez.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman told BoxingScene he did not attach a firm deadline for King and Mikaelian to respond, but he made it clear Armenia’s Mikaelian, 28-3 (12 KOs), is subject to being stripped of his belt.
Zuffa Boxing has already announced Mikaelian will fight Australia’s former IBF champion Opetaia, 30-0 (23 KOs), on September 12 as the Las Vegas co-main event to the WBC welterweight title defense by Ryan Garcis versus Zuffa’s Conor Benn of England.
Sulaiman and Benavidez promoter Sampson Lewkowicz scoffed at those criticizing Benavidez’s ability to elevate from WBC light-heavyweight champion to Mikaelian’s mandatory contender in the division above.
The WBC and other sanctioning bodies, including the WBO, will allow a champion from one division to petition to immediately contend for the belt one weight class above or below.
The WBO previously did something similar, moving its former lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis to No. 1 welterweight contender.
Zuffa announced Opetaia-Mikaelian just as King and Lewkowicz struck a deal for a Mikaelian title defense versus Phoenix’s Benavidez in December in Glendale, Arizona.
Mikaelian is currently in training for Opetaia, and Benavidez Tuesday posted on social media that his next fight will be announced soon, likely for the WBC cruiserweight title versus interim beltholder Michal Cieslak.
