Jean Pascal in, Yamil Perala out of interim WBC title fight against Michal Cieslak on June 28

Peralta, 17-1-1 (9 KOs), is ranked second by the WBC and Cieslak, 27-2 (21 KOs) is third. But the Peralta-Cieslak bout “found complications to be staged”, the WBC said.

So in will step Pascal, 37-7-1 (21 KOs), a former lineal light-heavyweight champion, at, according to his most recent social-media post, the Place Bell in Quebec, Canada on June 28. Pascal had one fight at cruiserweight in 2018 and then didn’t return to the weight class until September, when he scored a 10th-round knockout over the 13-0 Terry Osias.

Pascal is 42 years old and not ranked by the WBC at cruiserweight – not in its top 15 and not even in its top 40, . The IBF is the only sanctioning body with Pascal in its top 15 at 200lbs, slotting him at eight.

Pascal is from Laval, Quebec, just outside of Montreal.

The winner of Cieslak-Pascal would then need to face Peralta.

The WBC also has its primary world title on the line in the coming weeks – Badou Jack, who lost to Pascal via split decision in a light-heavyweight fight in 2019, will defend against Noel Mikaelyan on the undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-William Scull on May 3.

Jack was previously the WBC’s titleholder but was named “champion in recess” as he pondered a move to the bridgerweight division. Mikaelyan won the vacant WBC title in November 2023. 

But Mikaelyan was unable to defend against Ryan Rozicki in 2024, and Jack wanted to return to the ring. So Mikaelyan and Jack changed places, Jack being reinstated while Mikaelyan became the “champion in recess”.

The May 3 show was originally supposed to feature Jack defending against Rozicki. When Rozicki got injured in training camp, Mikaelyan stepped in.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter. David’s book, “,” is available on Amazon.