Noel Mikaelian stripped of WBC title after Zuffa Boxing fight, David Benavidez vs. Michal Cieslak ordered for late 2026
The WBC clarified the status of its cruiserweight division on Monday — and as widely expected, the cruiserweight world title has been declared vacant.
The WBC announced on Monday that the cruiserweight division's world title is now vacant. The previous champion, Noel Mikaelian, will not defend his title. Originally scheduled to face the unified WBA and WBO champion, David Benavidez, Mikaelian instead opted to fight Jai Opetaia on Saturday at the Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn event.
The bout ended with Opetaia stopping Mikaelian in Round 9. In response, the WBC has now elevated Michael Cieslak, the interim cruiserweight champion, to full titleholder status. Cieslak will defend his belt against Benavidez in late 2026, with the scheduled date in December in Arizona. The WBC also stipulated that the winner of the Benavidez-Cieslak bout must then challenge Opetaia.
Should all events unfold as planned, Benavidez and Opetaia would face each other for three titles. The IBF title remains vacant, and the sanctioning body plans to determine the champion through a bout between Viddal Riley and David Nyika. Opetaia is currently embroiled in a lawsuit against the IBF, seeking to regain the championship title he was stripped of in March.
Written by urgent.news from Yahoo Sports's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
