WBC Interim champ Michał Cieślak now full WBC champ…will fight Benavidez next. Winner to fight Opetaia in 2027!
As reported here on Fightnews last week, prior to the Noel Mikaelian – Jai Opetaia clash on the Garcia-Benn undercard- Mikaelian’s promoter Don King filed a cease and desist order in an attempt to prevent that fight from even taking place. The fight went ahead, but apparently without the WBC sanction. The WBC released a statement that a decision regarding the status of it’s cruiserweight title would be forthcoming today. Well, here it is:
The WBC made numerous attempts and undertook countless efforts to bring all interested parties together toward reaching the necessary agreements to satisfy all requests proposed for sanctioning bouts compliant with the WBC Rules, orders, and rulings.
After communicating with all parties involved regarding the Noel Mikaelian v. Jai Opetaia bout, the WBC Board of Governors determined that among all available courses of action, the ones most compliant with the WBC’s prior orders are the following rulings and orders:
Declare vacant the WBC Cruiserweight World Title;
Elevate WBC Interim Cruiserweight World Champion Michał Cieślak to WBC World Champion;
Confirm the WBC’s sanctioning of the mandatory defense of Champion Cieślak’s title against David Benavidez; and
Order that the winner of the Mikaelian v. Opetaia bout would become the Mandatory Contender of the division to fight next the winner of the upcoming bout between Cieślak and Benavidez.
Consistent with the WBC’s order set forth above, the winner of that bout must face next Jay Opetia, who won his bout last Saturday September 12 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
