| Noel Mikaelian | |
| Realname: | Norair Mikaelian |
| Nickname: | Dark Horse |
| Weight: | Cruiserweight |
| Height: | 1.90 m |
| Reach: | 191 cm |
| Nationality: | Armenian, German |
| Birth Date: | 18 September 1990 |
| Birth Place: | Yerevan, Armenia |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Total: | 29 |
| Wins: | 27 |
| Ko: | 12 |
| Losses: | 2 |
Norair Mikaelian (born 18 September 1990), better known as Noel Gevor Mikaelian, is an Armenian-German professional boxer who is the current WBC cruiserweight world champion, holding the title since November 2023. He is the stepson of former European middleweight champion Khoren Gevor.
Mikaelian made his professional debut against Adam Gadajew on 27 May 2011. He won the fight on points after four rounds. Mikaelian amassed an 18–0 record during the next four years,[1] before being booked to fight Daniel Alejandro Sanabria for the vacant WBO International cruiserweight title on 5 September 2015, the first regional championship of his career.[2] He captured the vacant belt by unanimous decision, with scores of 99–90, 98–91 and 100–89.[3] Mikaelian made his first title defense against Valery Brudov on 9 January 2016.[4] He won the fight by unanimous decision, with two scorecards of 99–91 and one scorecard of 98–92.[5] Mikaelian made his second title defense against Cristian Javier Medina on 7 May 2016.[6] He won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the bout 98–92 in his favor.[7] Mikaelian made his third title defense against Stephen Simmons on 14 October 2016.[8] He won the fight by split decision, with scores of 116–112, 116–112 and 113–116.[9]
On 28 April 2017, it was announced that Mikaelian would face Krzysztof Włodarczyk in an IBF cruiserweight title eliminator. The bout headlined a card which took place at the Hala Arena in Poznań, Poland on 20 May 2017.[10] He lost the fight by split decision. One judge scored the bout 115–113 in his favor, while the remaining two judges scored it 116–112 and 115–114 for Włodarczyk.[11]
Mikaelian faced the #1 seed of the 2018 World Boxing Cruiserweight Super Series Mairis Briedis on 10 November 2018, in the main event of an ESPN broadcast card, which took place at the Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago, Illinois.[12] Although Briedis was a 25-1 favourite, Mikaelian largely controlled the bout with jabs and hard rights landed on Briedis. However, the judges controversially awarded the fight to Briedis by unanimous decision, with scores of 114–112, 115–111 and 116–110.[13]
Mikaelian faced Jesse Bryan for the vacant WBC International cruiserweight title on 12 December 2020, following an eighteen-month absence from the sport. He won the fight by a fourth-round technical knockout.[14] Mikaelian next faced the former WBA interim cruiserweight champion Youri Kalenga on 12 February, this time coming back from a fourteen-month absence from the sport.[15] He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 119–109, 118–108 and 117–111.[16]
On December 9, it was revealed that Mikaelian would fight Ilunga Makabu for the WBC cruiserweight title. The bout was expected to take place at the Casino Miami Jai-Alai in Miami, Florida, on 21 January 2023,[17] but was abruptly cancelled when Makabu was arranged to defend the belt against Badou Jack instead on 26 February, despite Mikaelian being the mandatory challenger.[18] After Jack vacated the belt to move up to bridgerweight, Mikaelian was scheduled to fight Makabu for the vacant title on 4 November 2023, at the Casino Miami Jai Alai in Miami, Florida. Mikaelian won the fight by a third-round technical knockout and became the new WBC cruiserweight champion of the world.[19]
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Win | 27–2 | Ilunga Makabu | TKO | 3 (12) | 4 Nov 2023 | |||
| 28 | Win | 26–2 | Youri Kalenga | UD | 12 | 12 Feb 2022 | |||
| 27 | Win | 25–2 | Jesse Bryan | TKO | 4 (10), | 12 Dec 2020 | |||
| 26 | Win | 24–2 | Isossa Mondo | UD | 8 | 15 Jun 2019 | |||
| 25 | Loss | 23–2 | Mairis Briedis | UD | 12 | 10 Nov 2018 | |||
| 24 | Win | 23–1 | Isiah Thomas | UD | 10 | 9 Sep 2017 | |||
| 23 | Loss | 22–1 | Krzysztof Włodarczyk | SD | 12 | 20 May 2017 | |||
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Stephen Simmons | 12 | 14 Oct 2016 | ||||
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Cristian Javier Medina | UD | 10 | 7 May 2016 | |||
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Valery Brudov | UD | 10 | 9 Jan 2016 | |||
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Daniel Alejandro Sanabria | UD | 10 | 5 Sep 2015 | |||
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Lukasz Rusiewicz | UD | 8 | 18 Jul 2015 | |||
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Mohamed Azzaoui | KO | 5 (8), | 25 Apr 2015 | |||
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Alejandro Emilio Valori | UD | 8 | 21 Feb 2015 | |||
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Tamas Polster | TKO | 5 (8), | 13 Dec 2014 | |||
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Tamas Lodi | TKO | 7 (10), | 27 Sep 2014 | |||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Ismail Abdoul | UD | 8 | 16 Aug 2014 | |||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Bela Juhasz | KO | 2 (8), | 7 Jun 2014 | |||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Gogita Gorgiladze | UD | 10 | 3 May 2014 | |||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Loris Emiliani | 7 (8), | 25 Jan 2014 | ||||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Sandro Siproshvili | UD | 8 | 23 Nov 2013 | |||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Juan Manuel Garay | 6 | 8 Jun 2013 | ||||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Viktor Szalai | TKO | 4 (6), | 16 Mar 2013 | |||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Slavomir Selicky | TKO | 1 (6), | 22 Feb 2013 | |||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Michal Bilak | PTS | 6 | 7 Jul 2012 | |||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Marko Angermann | 2 (6), | 11 May 2012 | ||||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Rushid Sevim | TKO | 2 (4) | 3 Sep 2011 | |||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Vaclav Fiala | 1 (4), | 15 Jul 2011 | ||||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Adam Gadajew | 4 | 27 May 2011 |