Results: Mikaelian vs Jack II Was Ugly, Slow, And That Was The Point

Noel Mikaelian has his belt back, but let’s be straight about how it happened. This wasn’t redemption with fireworks. It was twelve rounds of grinding, leaning, spoiling, and surviving boredom long enough to get your hand raised.

The WBC cruiserweight title changed hands in Los Angeles, though the fight itself never really got going. Mikaelian beat Badou Jack on the cards in their rematch, 116-110 twice and 115-111, avenging the close loss from earlier this year. Deserved? Yes. Entertaining? No.

From the opening bell, the tone was set. Clinch after clinch. Heads pressed together. Arms tangled. Long stretches where nothing clean landed. Referee Jerry Cantu spent more time warning than watching punches, eventually taking a point off each fighter — Mikaelian for rabbit punching, Jack for hitting on the break. That told you everything.

How Mikaelian Won by Making It Miserable

Mikaelian didn’t try to be pretty. He jabbed, leaned, stayed just busy enough, and nicked rounds without opening up. The jab mattered not because it hurt Jack, but because it kept him occupied and off balance.

Jack, at 42, looked his age once the pace slowed. He tried to smother exchanges and turn it into a wrestling contest, a tactic that worked better in their first fight. This time, Mikaelian stayed slightly more active down the stretch, and that was enough.

There was no moment where the fight threatened to lift. No momentum shifts. No danger. Just attrition. Mikaelian understood the job and stuck to it: win rounds, avoid risks, give the judges nothing to question.

Jack admitted as much afterward. No complaints, no excuses. He said Mikaelian was the better man and hinted that retirement is on the table. It sounded like someone who knows his body isn’t giving him what it once did.

The Card Had Movement. The Main Event Didn’t.

The rest of the night at least showed some pulse.

Jonny Mansour shut out Marco Antonio Juarez over six rounds with clean work and smart movement. He dedicated the win to his late mother and spoke with a level of honesty you rarely hear.

Robert Daniels Jr did what he was meant to do, stopping Tristan Hamm in one round with a sharp right uppercut. Hamm was introduced as a social media name. The ring didn’t care.

Brook Sibrian avenged her earlier loss to Gloria Munguilla with a majority decision in a rough, honest fight — one of the better battles on the card.

Julius Ballo, still early in his pro career, boxed patiently, dropped Juan Centeno with a body shot, and managed six rounds without panic. The amateur background is obvious, even if he’s still learning when to sit down on punches.

The prelims were busy, competitive, and forgettable in the usual way. But they moved.

The main event didn’t.

Mikaelian is champion again, and under the rules he earned it. But if this is the ceiling at cruiserweight, don’t expect anyone outside hardcore fans to care. Belts don’t sell fights. Action does.