TESTED MIKAELIAN SEES OPETAIA AS ‘JUST ANOTHER FIGHT’
Noel Mikaelian meant no disrespect.
He recognizes what Jai Opetaia accomplished in the cruiserweight division over the past few years. The WBC champion nonetheless thinks he has a stronger resume than Opetaia and has been built to upset the unbeaten Australian southpaw in the 12-round co-feature before Ryan Garcia encounters Conor Benn in the main event Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Armenia’s Mikaelian (28-3, 12 KOs) considers Opetaia (30-0, 23 KOs) to be “very good,” yet not his most imposing opponent.
“I don’t think so,” Mikaelian told The Ring. “I just see it as another fight. Obviously, he has momentum right now because he’s very well marketed and very well promoted [by Zuffa Boxing]. But, I mean, if you look at my career, I fought guys like [Valery] Brudov, [Youri] Kalenga, Mairis Briedis, [Krzysztof] Wlodarczyk, [Junior] Makabu, Badou Jack.
“They’re all former world champions or multiple-division world champions, so you always look at the next challenge, what is in front of you, as the next big thing. But it’s just another fight. Obviously, he’s a very good fighter, and he’s a former champion himself, too. I respect that, but I see it as another fight.”
Oddsmakers wholeheartedly disagree with Mikaelian’s assessment. DraftKings listed Opetaia as a 14-1 favorite Friday to win their fight for Opetaia’s Ring championship and Mikaelian’s WBC belt.
That doesn’t matter much to Mikaelian, who will defend his title for the first time since winning it back from Jack, who he beat by unanimous decision in their rematch December 13 in Los Angeles.
Mikaelian, 35, and Opetaia, 31, both want to fight David Benavidez next in what would be a title unification fight. Benavidez won the WBA and WBO championships in his cruiserweight debut four months ago, when he battered Mexican southpaw Gilberto Ramirez (48-2, 30 KOs) on his way to a sixth-round knockout May 2 at T-Mobile Arena.
Representatives for Mikaelian and Benavidez tried to secure a deal for them to meet December 12 in Glendale, Arizona. Mikaelian instead agreed to oppose Opetaia because he never received a contract to box Benavidez next.
Don King, Mikaelian’s promoter, still attempted to block him from fighting Opetaia, but they weighed in Friday and will move forward with a fight Paramount+ will stream in the United States and DAZN will offer in the UK and Ireland.
Mikaelian took what he considers an equally difficult fight because he didn’t want to waste more time and couldn’t turn down a seven-figure purse.
“It’s difficult to compare them,” Mikaelian said of Opetaia and Benavidez. “One is a southpaw, one is orthodox. One of them is a good technician, has good footwork, moves in and out, and the other is more flat-footed, but is more dangerous on the inside and throws combinations in bunches, and he’s very fast, too. So, it’s difficult to compare them.”
Benavidez, who also owns the WBC light heavyweight title, is The Ring’s No. 1 contender for Opetaia’s championship. Mikaelian is ranked No. 5 by The Ring.
Opetaia was stripped of his IBF belt after he beat Brandon Glanton (21-4, 18 KOs) by unanimous decision March 8 at UFC’s Meta APEX performance center. Mikaelian hasn’t beaten an undefeated fighter since Loris Emilliani (then 10-0) in January 2014, though, and appreciates how his career can change by knocking off Opetaia on this high-profile card.
“Beating him will be great,” Mikaelian said. “It will be another part of my story. It will be even better because I just went after the fights nobody wanted me to fight. The WBC was blocking the fight, and my own promoter was blocking the fight. Going into that fight and winning that fight, with all the odds being against me, it would be huge.”
Jai Opetaia - 199 lbs
Noel Mikaelian - 200 lbs