Saturday’s WBC cruiserweight title fight between defending champion Noel Mikaelian and Jai Opetaia is in jeopardy.
TKO Group and Zuffa Boxing, the promoter for Opetaia vs. Mikaelian, have received a cease-and-desist letter from Brito PLLC, the attorneys for veteran boxing promoter Don King.
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According to the letter obtained by Uncrowned, Don King Productions — which claims to own the exclusive promotional rights for Mikaelian — argues that Zuffa Boxing and TKO Group have “engaged the professional boxing services of Mikaelian without DKP’s permission, consent, or authorization.”
Zuffa Boxing is a joint venture between TKO Group and Saudi Arabia’s Sela. TKO serves as its managing partner.
King argues that TKO and Zuffa’s actions “constitute a knowing, intentional and unjustified tortious interference with the agreement” that King has with Mikaelian. He demanded that TKO/Zuffa cancel the Opetaia vs. Mikaelian bout, cease and desist from its actions and from having any further business dealings with Mikaelian.
In early August, Mikaelian was announced to fight Opetaia in the co-feature for Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas. The news came as a shock to some because the WBC had ordered Mikaelian to defend his title against David Benavidez, and their respective promoters were finalizing an agreement for the fight.
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The letter read:
“Based on, inter alia, emails between you and DKP’s legal counsel, Carl Lewis, Esq. (“Mr. Lewis”), there is absolutely no doubt that TKO/Zuffa was and is aware that DKP is Noel’s promoter.
“I understand that you were personally involved in discussions with Mr. Lewis regarding a potential fight or multi-fight deal for Mikaelian, which would include a fight with Opetaia, and that no agreement was consummated.
“It is particularly disturbing to know that TKO/Zuffa’s Chief Operating Officer, Harrison Whitman, Esq., and the head of TKO/Zuffa, Dana White, had at least one virtual conference with DKP’s President, Mr. Don King, and Mr. Lewis in an effort to secure a Provision of Services (“POS”) deal for Mikaelian, again which included a fight with Opetaia.
“Although no deal was reached, it is indefensible for Zuffa/TKO to completely ignore the DKP Agreement, the promoter-fighter relationship between DKP and Mikaelian, and circumvent DKP and engage the services of Mikaelian for the Bout with Opetaia.”
Promoters in the boxing industry know that King has a history of issuing cease-and-desist letters. TKO Group experienced it firsthand when King issued such a letter to them in August 2025 after they announced that Michael Hunter would fight Jarrell Miller on Sept. 11 in the build-up to Terence Crawford vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Hunter vs. Miller was subsequently canceled.
Mikaelian’s status as WBC champion is also in question. The WBC is expected to strip Mikaelian if he does go through with the bout against Opetaia and allow Benavidez to fight the WBC interim champion Michael Cieslak on Dec. 12 for the full title.
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