Former cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian is a citizen of the world.

He was born in Armenia, raised in Germany, and now lives and trains in Miami with business ventures abroad. He also comes from a boxing family. His stepfather is former middleweight title challenger Khoren Gevor, and Noel’s younger brother, Abel, retired in 2019 as an undefeated light heavyweight after thirteen fights.

Noel Mikaelian built his record primarily in Germany and has fought in the United States, Romania, Denmark, Poland, Latvia, and most recently, in Saudi Arabia.

Mikaelian’s May matchup in Riyadh came against WBC cruiserweight champion Badou Jack for the title he never lost in the ring on three weeks’ notice, and it resulted in a controversial majority decision win for Jack.

Mikaelian (27-3, 12 KOs) – who has a knack for never landing close fights – filed an appeal with the WBC and a rematch was granted against Jack (29-3-3, 17 KOs).

And now, after a $301,018 purse bid was secured, the sequel is set Saturday at the Ace Mission Studios in Los Angeles. The bout will headline Bash Boxing and 555 Media's "Championing Mental Health 2" show on PPV.com ($29.95).

Los Angeles is the unofficial second-largest home for Armenians across the world, and the “Dark Horse” Mikaelian is looking to channel his road warrior spirit and finally hit the home stretch by reclaiming his cruiserweight crown in front of a partisan crowd.

“I love the fact that this fight is in Los Angeles,” Mikaelian told The Ring. “I want to give my Armenian fans a good fight. We are expecting a great turnout, and I can't wait to be crowned as Armenia's only active world champion and to give my people the opportunity to celebrate with one of their own. It will be a huge moment in history.”

Mikaelian is part of a group of Armenians who’ve held world titles in boxing over the last two decades, along with Arthur Abraham, Vic Darchinyan, Arsen Goulamirian, Artem Dalakian, Artur Grigorian, David Lemieux, and Susi Kentikian. Karo Murat, Azat Hovhannisyan, and the recently deceased Vanes Martirosyan were decorated former title challengers, but they never won the big one.

Mikaelian did, when he knocked out former titleholder Ilunga Junior Makabu in November 2023 in three rounds to become the WBC cruiserweight champion. But his 2024 campaign was mired by injuries and promotional problems with Don King that saw multiple scheduled fights get canceled. So the WBC downgraded Mikaelian to the Champion in Recess and made Jack the full champion, despite that Jack had not fought in 20 months at the time.

The puzzle finally got solved for Mikaelian in May when Jack was supposed to fight Ryan Rozicki on the Canelo Alvarez-William Scull undercard. Rozicki was forced to pull out of the fight due to an injury, and Mikaelian stepped in for his long-awaited opportunity on short notice.

But just like his bouts against Mairis Briedis in 2018 and Krzysztof Wlodarczyk in 2017, fights that many believed Mikaelian won, he was on the wrong end of a decision against Jack.

Mikaelian out-landed Jack 153 to 122 while throwing 301 more punches, but the judges scored the contest 114-114, 115-113, 115-113 in favor of Jack. DAZN’s Chris Mannix unofficially scored the contest 115-113 from ringside in favor of Mikaelian.

“There's a reason why I am getting the rematch, because the fight in May was not the right decision,” said Mikaelian. “I won most of the rounds by outworking and out-landing Badou. Every credible person – outside of the judges – had me winning. But that's in the past now. On December 13, I will win. I just hope I get the decision this time.”

Jack, however, perceives the sequence of events entirely differently. As more lucrative fights were in store against Gilberto Ramirez, Jai Opetaia, and even Jake Paul, Jack told The Ring that Mikaelian is not deserving of the rematch.

“You have to be reasonable and not delusional. I lost my respect toward him for saying that,” said Mikaelian.

“This fight will be a hundred percent different. Last time I only had three sparring sessions and very little time for any real conditioning training. I traveled while preparing in three different time zones on short notice and fought in the middle of the morning – and I still beat him. This time around, I am very confident that I’ll dominate him convincingly for the entire fight.

“I am looking forward to beating Badou and taking on the title unification fights in 2026. We all have to face each other to see who is the best cruiserweight champion in the world.”