Noel Mikaeljan-Ryan Rozicki WBC title fight postponed to December 7 in Sydney, Nova Scotia

It wasn't a glorious afternoon for the #PurseBidHeads, but it was a great one for Ryan Rozicki and his team.

The Ring has confirmed that an eleventh-hour agreement has been reached for Rozicki's rescheduled fight against WBC cruiserweight titleholder Noel Mikaeljan. Their oft-postponed title fight will now take place on December 7th at the Center 200 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Don King Productions and Three Lions Promotions, the organizers of Mikaeljan and Rozicki respectively, reached an agreement on Friday afternoon. A common opinion was reached just minutes before a scheduled hearing on the prize money offer, which was then canceled.

Mikaejan (27-2, 12 knockouts) now has to travel to Rozicki's hometown for his first title defense.

“We were able to close a deal with Don King just minutes before the deadline,” Daniel Otter, head of Three Lions Promotions, told The Ring. “We are really excited to bring the world title to Canada.

“Ryan is ready to become world champion and can’t wait to get in the ring.”

This eagerness cannot be overstated.

Mikaeljan-Rozicki has already had to accept four postponements. There have been problems since a cut Mikaeljan sustained during training camp prevented her scheduled fight date on June 7th.

In the latest rescheduling, the two met on the sidelines of a Don King show on September 28th at Casino Miami Jai Alai in Miami, Florida. However, the show was completely canceled without any explanation from King's office.

This resulted in a default in the eyes of the WBC, which rearranged the title fight and referred the matter to a prize money hearing. For now, the sanctioning authority is satisfied with the latest result.

“It’s going to be an incredible fight,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told The Ring. “I’m glad the WBC cruiserweight title fight will be in the ring later this year.”

The fight venue marks a true home game for Rozicki (20-1, 19 KOs).

The building's primary users are the Cape Breton Eagles of the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League.

Rozicki (20-1, 19 KOs) is also a starter in every respect. He has headlined or appeared as a featured guest at all six boxing events that have occurred at the venue in the 21st century. He most recently scored a first-round knockout against Mario Aguilar (23-9, 19 KOs) in December 2022.

Rozicki's impressive resume was supplemented by four more knockout victories as he became the WBC mandatory challenger in the cruiserweight division. The multiple delays in the title fight have kept him out of the ring since a first-round knockout of Olanrewaju Durodola (46-10, 41 KOs) on December 3 in Sydney.

In total, the 29-year-old has won seven times in a row since his defeat against Oscar Rivas in October 2021. Their hard-fought fight marked the first WBC bridgerweight title fight.

His previously scheduled title fight against Mikaeljan would have been Rozicki's first career fight outside of Canada.

Now it's Mikaeljan who's heading out and fighting on another promoter's show.

Mikaeljan, rated No. 2 at 200 by The Ring, won the belt on Nov. 4 in his adopted hometown of Miami in a third-round knockout of former champion Ilunga Makabu. The 33-year-old Armenian remains the only active title holder in King's current promotion squad.

Rozicki is the No. 8 ranked cruiserweight in the ring.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Follow @JakeNDaBox