Oh boy, dive into the world of boxing chaos again, right? It’s like, we just can’t catch a break with the WBC’s cruiserweight saga. Seriously—just today, the news dropped that the plan for an interim title fight between Michal Cieslak and Yamil Peralta took a nosedive. Like, who even saw that coming? Apparently, staging complications have cropped up—whatever that means. So now, Cieslak’s pivoting (like, chaotically swerving) to face off against Jean Pascal on June 28th, and it’s happening in Quebec. Now, that fight’s got real stakes, with a secondary belt on the line and a future shot at whoever comes out on top between Badou Jack and Noel Mikaelian. So yeah, things just got real.
Now, let’s talk about Pascal, who’s still going strong (well, sort of) at a hearty 42. I mean, most people at that age are content muddling through midlife crises, but here’s Pascal, gloves on, swinging it out. He did stop Terry Osias after losing to Michael Eifert in March 2023, but that was a 190-pound catchweight situation. Say what you will, the guy keeps us guessing, right? Also, worth mentioning, he isn’t even on the WBC’s radar in the cruiserweight stretch. So what does that tell us? I mean, they’ve bizarrely got Ilunga Makabu at no. 6 despite him wobbling through a couple of KO defeats in his last trio of fights. Makes your head spin sometimes, doesn’t it?
Then there’s Cieslak—man, you gotta give the guy some credit. His record stands at 27-2 with 21 KOs. He’s no rookie, been in the cruiserweight scene for a minute now, but those title shots against Makabu and Lawrence Okolie? Came up short, unfortunately. Common sense would say he’s likely to steamroll Pascal—unless, of course, the Quebecois judges have anything wild up their sleeves. Boxing, right? Always a wild ride, and just when you think you’ve got it figured out, they throw in a twist that makes you question everything. Anyway, here’s hoping the fight doesn’t disappoint—because honestly, the drama build-up certainly hasn’t.
