Noel Mikaelyan, Blair Cobbs Set To Co-Headline May 17 Don King Show In Florida
Noel Mikaelyan is set to take the first step in an effort to regain his old title.
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.
The show will also feature outspoken fringe welterweight contender Blair ‘The Flair’ 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.
Mikaelyan, 27-2 (12 KOs), was due to appear on that June 7 show in a title defense against Canada’s Ryan Rozicki, 20-1-1 (19 KOs). A reported injury suffered by Mikaelyan—an Armenian boxer who fights out of the greater Miami area—forced the first of several postponements in the ordered WBC cruiserweight title fight before its outright cancellation.
It was later learned that Mikaelyan was in litigation with King, which forced him to relinquish his title and accept a downgrade to WBC ‘Champion in Recess.’
The legal matter was since resolved, though not before Badou Jack—the former title claimant before he vacated the belt—was reinstated as WBC cruiserweight titlist.
Jack, 28-3-3 (17 KOs), was due next to face Rozicki on the May 3 Riyadh Season show headlined by the Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez-William Scull undisputed super middleweight championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That fight was canceled after Rozicki suffered a bicep injury in training.
Mikaelyan’s return should signal a pathway to challenge for that belt, the one perk that comes with the ‘Champion in Recess’ designation.
The May 17 return will mark Mikaelyan’s first fight since he won the WBC belt. It came in a November 2023 third-round knockout of Ilunga ‘Junior’ Makabu, though his 13-month reign went without a single defense. Still, the feat extended his current four-fight win streak.
Thompson, 10-4-2 (9 KOs), represents the type of made-to-order opponent to help shake off ring rust.
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.
