BOXING world champion Noel Mikaelian is ready to put his title on the line against Jake Paul – but has warned it could have consequences.
Paul is just four years into his 9-1 career, but remains adamant he won’t challenge just because but win the championship belt by 2025.
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Mikaelian — who holds the WBC title in Paul’s chosen cruiserweight division — is 27-2 and won the belt last year.
He took note of Paul’s lofty aspirations – but warned of the dangers that would come with it.
“It could be dangerous, of course. He can get knocked out, that can happen to any fighter,” Mikaelian, 33, told SunSport.
“But he obviously doesn’t have the experience to fight someone like me or any other cruiserweight champion or Canelo or anything like that.
“That would be like, I don’t want to say suicide, but it will, it could be dangerous.
“Boxing is a dangerous sport, on average 15 people die each year in boxing fights.
“So many concussions, brain injuries. So boxing is definitely a dangerous sport and it can be dangerous for anyone.”
Paul’s only loss in the ring was against Tommy’s Fury25, in February 2023, but has won three times since then.
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This included stoppage victories against little-known opponents like Andre August, 35, and Ryan Bourland, 36.
But it did little to improve Paul’s chances of getting a world title shot – which would start by obtaining a world ranking among the top 15.
Paul, 27, now returns on the weekend against former UFC boxer Mike Perry, 32 years old.
In the lead-up to the fight, he continued to brag about plans to cruiserweight title challenge next year.
And Mikaelian is ready to grant Paul’s wish – under some conditions.
“I watched him against Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia last year and I expected so much more,” he said.
“I thought he would bring a bigger audience and be much more of a star. But it wasn’t as big as I thought.
“But looking at next year, if he wants to fight for a world championship, it will be quite difficult. He must first beat someone in the top 15 to qualify.
“And then – he has to give me that Hawk Tuah and spit on that thing – then I would make a voluntary defense against him.
“I would play with it and have fun and it would be very profitable for me too. So I would accept that if he wanted to fight for a title.”
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