LOS ANGELES – The bruising over his left eye still prominent, Noel Mikaelian didn’t blink when told fellow cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia was calling him out for an immediate unification.
“Great, let’s do it – I’m ready to go,” Mikaelian told BoxingScene late on Saturday night after recapturing the WBC belt with a 115-111, 116-110, 116-110 unanimous decision victory over former three-division champion Badou Jack at Ace Mission Studios.
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Mikaelian, 28-3 (12KOs), was still celebrating his triumph after winning the bout’s final five rounds to pull away in a rugged affair that involved two point deductions, a headbutt that left a nasty knot on Jack’s forehead, and a post-eighth-round extension of the bout when Mikaelian and Jack were flinging wild punches at each other as they leaned heavily on to the ropes. It appeared the veteran, retiring referee Jerry Cantu could’ve called a double disqualification as the fisticuffs transpired.
Mikaelian was asked if he considered a double disqualification if he didn’t stop fighting with Jack after the bell.
“I didn’t care about that – it got too heated,” he said. “Once it got that heated, it’s like, ‘Let’s rough him up’.
“Sometimes, it’s difficult – I’m a calm guy. But he forced me to let the dog out. He was punching and pressing with the head.”
Through seven rounds two judges had the bout even and another scored it by one point for Jack. But Jack, 42, said the effects of a headbutt that wound up swelling his forehead cost him the fight and will make the three-division champion reconsider retirement.
“It wasn’t my best performance.” he said. “I don’t feel that great. It’s not easy to perform at this age. I’ve had a great career.”
Jack acknowledged: “Father Time may be coming… Maybe [it’s time for retirement], maybe not… There were headbutts. He has his little dirty tricks. Flinching, holding, headbutts, eye pokes – now he is slick.”
Promoted by Don King, Mikaelian, meanwhile, said he’s “waiting for unifications”. “Whoever has the belts,” he continued, “those are the challenges I’m looking for.”
Leigh Dawney Photography
