Instead of the ring, Noel Mikaelian currently has other fights to fight. On the one hand against his promoter Don King, and on the other against his demotion to “Champion in Recess”. The German cruiserweight world champion told his incredible story to BOXSPORT.
Hi Noel, the last time we spoke, you told us about your difficulties with your promoter in the USA. Are you still under contract with Don King?
Yes, I’m still boxing with Don King. I had asked him to terminate our contract and my lawyer had already prepared a lawsuit. But we negotiated again and ultimately agreed to continue working together. I’m his only champion – if he lets me go, he can basically close his promotion. You mustn’t forget: Don is 93 years old, not always at his best and doesn’t realize some things anymore. Also because his employees obviously take advantage of this and don’t pass on everything that was discussed or how it was discussed.
“There was a huge dispute”
That sounds like a lot of trouble.
There were a lot of misunderstandings, I made that clear to Don. A few weeks ago we met in Miami in his office. There was a huge argument, we shouted at each other and I told him I was going to sue him. Then I stormed out of the office. His assistant ran after me to the parking lot and said we’re all Christian, let’s handle this in a Christian way … Honestly, Don is ruining my career – but he acts like he’s the victim. I later decided with my manager that we would hand the whole thing over to my lawyer.
Recently there have been rumors about Don King’s health. What is true?
I spoke to him on the phone just a few days ago and I now call him all the time to get on his nerves – and to let him know that he needs to do something. Don is pretty “sharp” despite his age, I have to say. He talks for 45 minutes straight without any problems. Then he stops for a few minutes, takes a kind of nap and is then back on his toes. (smiles) But sometimes he gets lost in his conversations and starts talking about something from the past, when he was still “Cadillac Slim” (that’s what King was called in the 1950s when he ran a nightclub in Cleveland, among other places; the ed.).
You last stood in the ring in November 2023. This fact – and the trouble with Don King – even led to the World Boxing Council (WBC) downgrading you from a full champion to a champion “in recess”.
We told WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman that we would not take legal action against Don King and would sort everything out internally. That’s what we did. Nevertheless, Sulaiman classified me as “Champion in Recess” without the approval of his board. He said that I could come back at any time as soon as I had cleared up my affairs with Don. Also curious: A few days earlier, Canadian Ryan Rozicki had boxed for the WBC Interim World Championship and actually lost the fight (Rozicki officially scored a draw against Yamil A. Peralta officially a “draw” by majority decision; editor’s note). He was then downgraded by the WBC board. But Sulaiman arbitrarily put Rozicki back up as “mandatory”.
“Negotiating behind my back”
You were originally supposed to defend your world championship belt against Ryan Rozicki at the beginning of December – in his home country of Canada. But that didn’t happen.
This fight was moved to Canada without my consent, I finally found out about it via social media. The original fight date in September was canceled because Don King allegedly had to go to the hospital. I then asked for my contract to be terminated. Later, the WBC negotiated with Don behind my back that I should defend my title against the Canadian – even though I had already asked Don to terminate my contract and he was no longer my promoter in that sense. I then suggested to WBC boss Mauricio Sulaiman that he organize an interim world championship while I fought Don for my contract. …
Interview: Frank Schwantes
You can read the full interview with Noel Mikaelian in the new ePaper of the BOXSPORT app!