His side: Noel Mikaelian lays out why he rejects Don King and WBC for Jai Opetaia fight

From Noel Mikaelian’s perspective, the choice was obvious.

Of course he’d like to remain WBC cruiserweight champion, but the gamesmanship he perceived with his earnings and time by veteran promoter Don King made a more lucrative, still-demanding bout emerge as the preferred option.

The 35-year-old Mikaelian, 28-3 (12 KOs), expects the WBC to strip him of his belt once he steps into the ring against unbeaten Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, 30-0 (23 KOs), who previously experienced a similar fate in March when the IBF took his belt.

“I don't know what's going on. I haven't heard from my promoter either, but maybe they're waiting for [next] week,” Mikaelian told BoxingScene Wednesday.

“But I really don't care at this point. Everyone has to do what they have to do. I have to make a living. I have to go on with my career. And they have to do whatever they have to do. I've already twice been WBC world champion, so I don't care too much about that anymore.”

Armenia’s Mikaelian won the WBC belt back from Badou Jack in December at a Los Angeles sound stage, and said the days and King’s promises for a title defense slithered away.

Mikaelian said he’s especially irked that the silence extended even as he later learned the new Nick Khan-Dana White-headed Zuffa Boxing promotion and Premier Boxing Champions, which represents WBC cruiserweight champion David Benavidez, had made strong offers for both Opetaia, and, in PBC’s case, a three-fight guarantee that included a Benavidez unification.

Mikaelian claims the initial offer for Mikaelian-Opetaia was presented by Zuffa Boxing’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings, in March.

“Which I was not aware of… I mean, the fight could have happened already in June or July,” Mikaelian said. “If I had accepted it, it should have been fine with the WBC because I had [the right to fight] a voluntary defense.”

Days after WBC light-heavyweight champion Benavidez defeated Mexico’s Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in early May to collect the WBA and WBO cruiserweight belts, however, Benavidez promoter Sampson Lewkowicz had his fighter invoke a rarely applied WBC rule that allows a champion from one division above or below to request mandatory challenger status.

As news was breaking that Opetaia and Mikaelian were in advanced talks to finalize a bout, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman granted the Benavidez request, meaning Mikaelian either had to fight Benavidez or lose the belt.

There were talks to make Mikaelian-Benavidez between Lewkowicz and King, but as they dragged out, Mikaelian became dismayed, learning an effort to try to make the fight this month was instead leading to plans for a December bout in Benavidez’s home state of Arizona – a full year removed from the Jack title victory.

“They told me, ‘Oh, he won't be able to fight because he's going to get married, or getting divorced, is going through some personal problems on social media.’ I was like, ‘Oh, I understand … so when is something going on paper?’” Mikaelian said.

King told BoxingScene Mikaelian requested a $1 million purse, which the promoter said he’d affirmed from Lewkowicz, but the talks had dragged out for so long, Mikaelian had already signed a Zuffa deal to fight Opetaia. 

“There was no bona fide offer … . The last thing Don King was presenting [came] after I already signed the [Zuffa] offer, [and] that was that there might be a [Benavidez] fight in December – no [established] venue, no [exact] date … I'm like, ‘I can't wait till December. I have to make a living. We can make the Benavidez fight right after I’m the winner [against Opetaia]. No problem. Absolutely.’”

Benavidez is in final negotiations to fight WBC No. 1 cruiserweight contender Michal Cieslak of Poland for the expected vacated belt.

Saying he had “never told the full story,” Mikaelian asked, “So what should I’ve done? Wait till later this year to fight and make a living? So I picked this fight. This is a great fight. This is two cruiserweight champions.

“This is a fight fans want to see and this is a good platform in Las Vegas, the ring inside T-Mobile. It's a great event and a good main event [pitting WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia versus top-ranked contender Conor Benn of England], as well. I always wanted to fight in Vegas. I think it's a great opportunity and the winner of this fight can still do the Benavidez fight after.”

King, who has promoted Muhammad Ali, Julio Cesar Chavez Snr and Mike Tyson while becoming embroiled in several financial disputes with fighters over the years, did not immediately return messages left by BoxingScene Wednesday.

Mikaelian, meanwhile, elaborated, saying his proposed cut of the PBC deal was shameful and that he also forwarded a lesser title challenger for a $150,000 purse.

“I haven't been speaking publicly about all the things that Don King has done with my career these past years, but I will go out [and say] in these last couple of months he cost me a lot of lawyer fees – like, what I'm making in this, a big chunk is going to attorney fees just to make this fight happen,” Mikaelian said.

“Because in my contract, we have an addendum, which my advisor [Anthony Grynchal] put in there that if I or my team can outsource third-party opportunities which are financially more advantageous to the fighter, I can pursue them.

“We received the contract offer from TKO. So now you can judge, is that another lie? I was being kept inactive.”

Mikaelian said the WBC is complicit because it had knowledge of his ability to collect a bigger purse, to set aside the alleged onerous cut that King was taking from the Benavidez deal, and still threatens to strip him.

“I want the bigger chunk of the money because Don King has invested absolute $0 in my career and he actually costs me money because of the lawyer fees to deal with,” Mikaelian said. “So we went out there and did the deal with TKO.”

King will collect an undisclosed amount from the September 12 fight and is tied to Mikaelian afterward, the fighter said.

“He got a good amount of money that he would make just by sitting there, being in the back. He just wants all the control. Everything has to go like how he wants it and he keeps his fighters kind of like puppets in the shelves” Mikaelian said. 

“He doesn't think about it, like, ‘They have to fight, they have to make a living. He always wants loyalty from the fighter. But [King is] never loyal to the fighter and never loyal to the contracts. He owes me so many fights. He owes me so much money. And he's not doing anything. He always comes with that [saying], ‘When you become a champion, we will make the money.”

Ironically, Mikaelian is earning this TKO-backed purse with Opetaia likely without the major belts being on the line.

“I'm looking forward to it. [Opetaia’s] a very good fighter, very strong, a good technician, Southpaw,” Mikaelian said. “He has flaws. We all have flaws. I can't expose the flaws right now. I can't underestimate him, but we are all also not invincible. We're all humans and we will go in there like two gentlemen and fight it out on September 12th, and the better man will win and  get the number one spot in what’s a great division.”

Mikaelian thanked Zuffa Boxing for waiting through the hurdles to get him a fight he said has been less strenuous than the legal bout.

“I have to deal with what is in front of me. I couldn’t pretend it’s not happening,” Mikaelian said. “But the training is very important. The fight is very important. I see it as easier than the things that I have been dealing with outside of the ring these past years with Don King and the lawyers.

“Now, I have to go out and make the best of the situation.”

Zuffa Boxing announced the remaining fights on the card, led by former unified 140lbs champion Jose Ramirez meeting fellow Golden Boy Promotions welterweight Alexis Rocha while Southern California’s Pablo Rubio, 15-0 (5 KOs), will meet Mexico’s Oswaldo Molina, 9-0 (4 KOs), in a 132lbs catchweight bout.

Former featherweight champion Mark Magsayo, 29-2 (19 KOs), fights on the main card versus recent Zuffa Boxing main-event contender Andres Cortes, 25-0 (13 KOs), in a lightweight bout and heavyweights Da’Mazion Vanhouter, 12-0 (9 KOs), and Raphael Akpejiori, 19-3 (18 KOs), are also on the main card.

Preliminary fights include Abel Gonzalez versus Raul Solomon, super middleweights; Vlad Panin versus Dakota Linger, junior middleweights; and Sean Garcia (Ryan’s brother) versus Abraham Morales, lightweights.