Just as the WBC cruiserweight title picture was about to get some clarity, another mishap has disrupted plans.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán confirmed on Tuesday that Ryan Rozicki (20-1-1, 19 KOs) suffered an injury and won’t be able to fight WBC cruiserweight champion Badou Jack (28-3-3, 19 KOs) on May 4. The fight was set to take place on the undercard of the DAZN PPV event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia headlined by the matchup between Canelo Alvarez and William Scull.

"The cruiserweight division has been extremely complicated in the last two years in the WBC," Sulaimán told The Ring. "Just when our ruling from the last convention seemed to get everything on track, Rozicki suffered an injury. We will monitor the options that the promoter may have and will try to support the course of action."

Soon after learning of Rozicki's injury, WBC cruiserweight champion in recess Noel Mikaelian told The Ring that he was already preparing for a tune-up tilt in May and is ready to step in to face Jack for the full title he once owned.

"I’ve been the rightful WBC cruiserweight champion, and though I was placed in recess, I never stopped training, never stopped being ready,” Mikaelian told The Ring. “Stepping in to face Badou Jack is not just an opportunity – it’s justice. I’m ready to come to Riyadh to prove once and for all who the real champion is. I want to thank in advance His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, Riyadh Season, my promoter Don King, and the WBC for the opportunity.”

“Noel Mikaelian is ready, willing and able to step in for Rozicki and fight Jack for the title,” said King. “We are in the process of negotiating a deal.”

Mikaelian (27-2, 12 KOs), a 34-year-old Armenian based in Miami, became the WBC cruiserweight champion in November 2023 when he knocked out Ilunga Makabu in just three rounds. But Mikaelian hasn't fought since due to a sequence and saga of different events.

Mikaelian was supposed to face Rozicki on June 7 but pulled out of the fight after suffering an injury during sparring 10 days prior to the fight. The fight was rescheduled to September 28 but postponed yet again after Mikaelian promoter Don King fell ill and was unable to promote the event. The matchup was moved once more, this time to December 7, only for it to be revealed that Mikaelian and King were at odds and in the midst of a legal dispute, which was later resolved.

Rozicki instead fought Yamil Peralta, a No. 2 contender at the time, in a rematch on December 7 to a majority draw.

At the WBC Convention on December 11, the WBC reinstated Jack to the full title and designated Mikaelian to the champion in recess. The 41-year-old Jack has not fought since February 2023 when he scored a 12th round TKO win against Makabu.

In January, the WBC ordered a fight between Jack and mandatory challenger Rozicki and indicated Mikaelian would be next in line to face the winner. Three Lions Promotions, which promotes Rozicki, won the purse bid, and the fight eventually landed on the Alvarez-Skull card.

But the deck must get reshuffled once again, and Mikaelian could benefit from how the cards could play out because he can now fight for a title he never lost.

Whoever ends up with the WBC crown will be in prime position to land title unification bouts against The Ring and IBF champion Jai Opetaia and WBA and WBO champion Gilberto Ramirez.

"Noel has been locked in, physically and mentally, for this moment,” Mikaelian’s advisor Anthony Girges told The Ring. “Being put in recess never changed the fact that he's the true WBC cruiserweight champion. He’s ready to fight with purpose, with focus, and with the mindset of a man reclaiming what’s rightfully his. Riyadh will see the return of a champion, not by chance, but by destiny.”