The world championship clash between Badou Jack and Noel Mikaelian is confirmed for the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs William Scull. The event airs live from the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 3 (ET). The pair square off in the scheduled 12-round bout with the WBC cruiserweight title on the line.
Three-division champion Jack (28-3-3, 17 KOs) of Sweden was reinstated as the WBC 200-pound champion in late 2024. Former titleholder Mikaelian (27-2, 12 KOs)of Armenia was declared “champion in recess” due to inactivity.
Jack was initially scheduled to face Ryan Rozicki, who withdrew due to injury. The fight against Mikaelian was confirmed on Sunday in a statement from DKP that reads:
“Promoter Don King and the Sela Company and his excellency have come to an agreement to have WBC Cruiserweight Champion Badou Jack and Noel Mikaelian fight for the title on May 3 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.”
In his previous bout in February 2023, 41-year-old Badou Jack stopped Ilunga Junior Makabu in the 12th round to become champion in his third weight class. 34-year-old Noel Mikaelian fought and stopped Makabu in the third round in November the same year to claim the belt vacated by Jack in September 2023. The latter was expected to move up to bridgerweight.
Atop the fight card, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) and William Scull (23-0, 9 KOs) battle it out for the undisputed super middleweight title. Mexico’s Canelo puts his unified WBA, WBC, and WBO belts on the line and looks to regain the IBF strap. Scull brings to the ring his IBF belt.
Among other Canelo vs Scull undercard bouts, Bruno Surace (26-0-2, 5 KOs) of France and Jaime Munguia (44-2, 35 KOs) of Mexico meet in a rematch at super middleweight. Surace stopped Munguia in the sixth round in December 2024.