Badou Jack will defend his WBC cruiserweight world title against Noel Mikaelian tonight (Saturday). Jack weighed in at 199.8 pounds while Mikaelian weighed in at 199.8. Jack is a familiar face within the WBC. His first professional world title came in 2015, when he defeated Anthony Dirrell by majority decision. With that victory, he became the WBC super middleweight world champion. His reign included four successful defenses before he vacated the belt to move up in weight and seek new challenges. In 2023, he received the opportunity to fight for the WBC cruiserweight title against Ilunga Makabu. After stopping Makabu in the twelfth round, Jack became a world champion once again. Jack was later named champion in recess and, in 2025, returned to face Mikaelian, who held the cruiserweight world title at the time, defeating him by majority decision.

 

Mikaelian has a strong history in the division. In 2023, he defeated Ilunga Makabu by third-round TKO to become the WBC cruiserweight world champion. Two years later, he lost his title to Badou Jack.