Noel Mikaelian is one of the few German boxers who are of international class. He can prove that on Sunday night: He is fighting for the world title in Miami. The fact that hardly anyone in this country notices this is due to Mikaelian’s life path.
“Only in America.” The credo of the notorious US promoter Don King with the high-voltage hairstyle also applies to Noel Mikaelian in a certain way. The German prizefighter came to the conclusion four years ago that his sporting goal in life could only or at least best be achieved from America. In 2019 Mikaelian emigrated to Miami. At the time, he was suffering from a “severe depression,” as Mikaelian explains in an interview with ntv.de/sport.de. At the end of 2018 he suffered a groundbreaking defeat against Latvian Mairis Briedis in the quarterfinals of the “World Boxing Super Series” in Chicago.
“I fell victim to the judges and everything that was happening in the background,” the 33-year-old remembers on November 10th, five years ago. Although Mikaelian had his opponent under control and clearly dominated at least eight of the twelve rounds, the jury at ringside unanimously declared him the loser. Instead of fighting for a place in the final of the Boxing Champions League, for the prestigious Muhammad Ali Trophy and ten million dollars in prize money, Mikaelian was left empty-handed – and fell into a hole. “I just didn’t feel like boxing anymore, didn’t feel like doing anything anymore. I was very mentally confused,” Mikaelian looks back. The boxer was particularly disappointed with his promoters Kalle and Nisse Sauerland, under whose banner he had been climbing the rope square for years.
A judgment with the power to destroy a career
In Chicago, it seemed like Mikaelian wasn’t supposed to win. Briedis – known in Germany because he once beat up Marco Huck and felled Mahmoud Charr like a tree – was (and is) also under contract with Sauerland (today “Wasserman Boxing”). The favorite gratefully accepted the judge’s gift and later won the tournament for the cruiserweight crown – while Mikaelian had to climb out of his psychological crater. The Chicago verdict angered many fans and experts. It was one of those judgments: unjust and with the evil power to destroy a career. Not the first experience of this kind for Mikaelian.
In 2017 he had already lost out against long-time WBC world champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk in Poland in a similarly controversial manner. The 2:1 score for the Polish “Diablo” was a “home town decision,” observers said. Mikaelian missed taking part in the first edition of the World Boxing Super Series, as well as a world championship fight with the IBF association. A first career break. The undeserved defeat against Briedis hit even harder. Mikaelian was on the ground.
Noel Mikaelian once fell into a severe depression.
(Photo: imago/Future Image)
“But I picked myself up,” he emphasizes. Mikaelian took his fate into his own hands. The boxing professional terminated his contract “because I simply no longer had confidence in the Sauerland stable and didn’t feel properly represented by my promoter.” Mikaelian wanted to take control of his career and no longer have to rely on “middlemen”. “In boxing you are often seen as a simple product that you can use and market – a meat product, so to speak,” Mikaelian criticizes the prizefighting business: “Many managers and promoters are long-established. That was perhaps the case in the nineties. Today it is different . The athlete is the boss, it’s his career, he drives the market.” What’s the point of a manager “who has a contact, puts honey in your mouth, puts in a good word for you in order to collect money. You can do that yourself too.”
Drawn the right conclusions
For a long time, Mikaelian’s career looked “typically German”. He got to know the local scene as a teenager. His stepfather Koren Gevor boxed for the Hamburg Universum stable against Arthur Abraham and Felix Sturm for the world title. Mikaelian made his professional debut in 2011, soon signed with Sauerland and made a name for himself in the supporting program of Abraham and Huck. Things have been slowly but steadily improving for the cruiserweight. But whenever a peak seemed to have been reached – in Poland, in Chicago – the judges stole Mikaelian’s oxygen bottle. In the mentally draining months after the Briedis fight, he made the decision to change his life. Packing your bags.
“I needed a change of scenery,” Mikaelian remembers. He flew to Florida – and never returned. Since then, the boxer has been his own boss and manages himself together with his brother Abel. “I have learned the lesson that unfortunately in boxing you have to do a lot more work outside the ring. Maintaining contact with the associations, who represents me?” explains Mikaelian. If you don’t have an inner circle that you can trust, it’s difficult. “I’ve spent a lot of time taking care of the outside business in recent years, so that when I perform in the ring, I have no doubt that my team is pulling the wrong strings with judges, management or promotion.”
However, Mikaelian’s career in the USA did not take off quickly. On the one hand, the corona pandemic slowed down sport. On the other hand, it was difficult for the defensive specialist to get good fights. His strong performance against the highly rated Briedis had paradoxically made Mikaelian’s life at cruiserweight quite difficult. “I’m more of a case of high-risk/low-reward. Because I’m not exactly famous, I’m not that financially lucrative for many opponents, but from a boxing perspective I’m very dangerous,” Mikaelian describes his dilemma. In other words: In the weight class up to 90.72 kilograms, none of the top people care about a physically compact, technically adept counter-puncher without a big name who makes you look bad.
“Jack’s victory was surprising but interesting for me”
After all: With victories over the American Jesse Bryan (2020) and Yuri Kayembre Kalenga from the Congo (2022), Mikaelian put himself in the position of number 1 challenger at the WBC world association. In order to finally land a world championship fight, he even signed a contract with promoter legend Don King at the end of 2022. It was supposed to happen at the beginning of the year – things turned out differently.
World champion Ilunga Makabu received “special permission” from the WBC for a profitable duel with Sweden’s Badou Jack in Saudi Arabia. Mikaelian watched in Diriyya in February as Makabu unexpectedly lost his WBC crown by technical knockout. So the challenger in waiting set his sights on the new champion. “Jack’s win was surprising but interesting to me because he is represented by Skill Challenge Promotion, who are financially very strong and are now running very good boxing events in Saudi Arabia,” explains Mikaelian.
The “purse bid” (auction of the hosting rights, editor) for a duel with Jack was then postponed three times. “I was offered step-aside money if I didn’t fight him, which was also very lucrative. But I really wanted to fight for the title, so I declined. Then Jack resigned the title to do something else “, the boxing manager gives an insight into the business. The way seemed clear for a fight against Makabu for the now vacant WBC title. But the negotiations dragged on again.
“Makabu’s team put a lot of obstacles in the way and tried everything to avoid the duel,” says Mikaelian. Thanks to the Don King connection and “my strong team, who did everything to ensure that the fight took place,” the world championship opportunity ultimately worked out. On Saturday evening (Florida time) Mikaelian finally gets to face Makabu at the “Casino Miami Jai Alai”, even though he missed the final press conference due to visa problems and only showed up in the Sunshine State shortly beforehand.
“Testing out” unfounded rights
Mikaelian is extremely confident going into the fistfight against the 35-year-old southpaw from the Congo. Makabu (fight record: 29 wins, 3 defeats, 25 knockouts) has beaten many good boxers in recent years and packs a “real left punch”. Apart from a dangerous left hook, “I don’t see much,” said Mikaelian: “He doesn’t have a good jab, he doesn’t have good footwork, he’s not very strategic, he just relies on his punch. I generally see myself as a much better boxer and I think so , the boxer will ultimately beat the puncher.”
Mikaelian (26 wins, 2 losses, 11 knockouts) prepared meticulously in Miami with Cuban Pedro Diaz. The renowned trainer was already in his corner at the Briedis fight, the Cuban boxing school was impressive: Mikaelian boxed even more variable, more unpredictable, more unpleasant than before. The coronation should follow against Makabu. Mikaelian announces that he will definitely “test out” the straight right. Badou Jack ultimately also had success with the hit, which was decried as the “Southpaw Killer”. Otherwise, it’s important to “control the left side against the southpaw – a classic. And then I’ll come up with something,” says the 33-year-old, not quite revealing his boxing sheet yet.
Mikaelian wants to stay true to his more defensive, counterattack-oriented style. “I’ve been able to do all of this for so long because I haven’t gotten much. I’ve found that you get a lot more when you’re more offensive,” says the ring strategist with a laugh. He wants to beat Makabu his way. “Whether it’s a knockout or I outbox him and win on points doesn’t matter to me. I just don’t want to get injured and win clearly.”
First world champion in the USA since Schmeling?
And the judges? Mikaelian admits that the fear of another wrongful judgment lingers in the back of his mind. “But we are here now: Miami is my place of residence and I am under contract with Don King for this fight,” the German “boxing emigrant” hopes for a home advantage. Mikaelian knows that Makabu also signed a paper with the 92-year-old promoter godfather with the high-current curl.
Noel Mikaelian, born in Armenia in 1990, German mother, grew up in Berlin and Hamburg, can make history on November 4th. Only in America? Mikaelian would be the first German since Max Schmeling in 1930 (!) to be crowned boxing champion in the USA. “I didn’t even have that on my mind, I had completely forgotten. It would be an honor if I could do that after more than 90 years. I would be extremely happy,” he says.
Apparently boxing Germany also has perhaps its only world-class fighter not on the list. Mikaelian’s performance can only be seen on Sunday night via pay-per-view live stream on “Fite TV”: for $14.99. Out of sight out of mind? Not for Mikaelian. “My roots are in Germany. I love Germany, love coming to Germany – it’s still my home,” he emphasizes. After the fight we will also go to Hamburg. “Then I’ll come with the title – and then we’ll celebrate with German beer.”