In a rematch of their May 3 skirmish in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Noel Mikaelian turned the tables on Badou Jack, winning a unanimous decision to regain the WBC world cruiserweight title that he once held. The judges had it 115-111 and 116-110 twice.

The match, promoted by Bash Promotions at a new TV and cinema production studio in the Boyle Heights district of Los Angeles, was a messy affair marred by excessive clinching. Both fighters had a point deducted by veteran SoCal referee Jerry Cantu who announced before the match that this would be his final fight. Mikaelian lost a point for rabbit punching; Jack for hitting on the break. Very few punches by either man landed cleanly.

In their first meeting, Badou Jack won the final two rounds on all three cards to eke out a razor-thin and mildly controversial decision. Tonight, the situation was reversed with Mikaelian winning the late rounds. With the victory, the Miami-based Armenian improved his ledger to 28-3 (12).

After the fight, Badou Jack was gracious in defeat, acknowledging that Mikaelian was the better man tonight. Asked what’s next for him, the 42-year-old Jack, who declined to 28-4-4, hinted at retirement: “It’s not easy to perform at this age. I had a good career.”

Other Bouts

In the next-to-last fight on the card, lanky San Diego-area lightweight Jonny Mansour whitewashed Mexico’s scrappy but limited Marco Antonio Juarez, winning 60-54 on all three cards. Of Chaldean-Iraqi extraction, the flashy, 25-year-old Mansour improved to 6-0 (2).  Juarez falls to 12-10-3.

In what was billed as the co-feature, Coachella light flyweight Brook Sibrian improved to 9-2 while avenging her lone defeat with a majority decision over LA’s Gloria Munguia (8-3). As was true in their first meeting in January, this was a fan-friendly affair. Sibrian prevailed by scores of 97-93 and 96-94 with the third judge having it even (96-95).

In a 4-round “special attraction,” Miami cruiserweight Robert Daniels Jr, the son of the former cruiserweight title-holder of the same name, scored a first-round stoppage of close friend and sparring partner Tristan Hamm. Daniels Jr (9-0, 7 KOs) had Hamm (0-2) on the deck before ending the battle with a harsh right uppercut that compelled referee Thomas Taylor to waive it off.

Supposedly from White Horse, Yukon territory, Canada, the hapless Hamm was introduced by British ring announcer Thomas Treiber as a social media sensation (but not in my household).

In a 6-round lightweight contest, San Diego’s Julius Ballo, Jonny Mansour’s cousin, pitched a 6-round shutout over Nicaraguan trial horse Juan Carlos Centeno. Ballo (2-0, 1 KO) put Centeno on the canvas in round four with a left hook to the body but couldn’t finish him off.

Signed to Top Rank and trained at Robert Garcia’s boxing academy, Ballo warrant1s watching. A 2024 National Gloves featherweight champion, he defeated the likes of Emiliano Vargas, Stephen Navarro, and Jhon Orobio as amateur.

In a lusty skirmish between two ladies who are rough around the edges, SoCal’s Haley Jordan (1-1) avenged her lone defeat with a 4-round unanimous decision over 36-year-old Texas southpaw Chantal Sumrall (1-3-1). The scores were 39-37 and mysterious 40-36 score for Jordan.

Photo credit: Chris Farina

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