Noel Mikaelyan couldn’t help but borrow a phrase from his Hall of Fame promoter to describe his plans to become a major titleholder this weekend.

“Just watch, yesterday’s nobody will become tomorrow’s somebody,” Mikaelyan stated of his vacant WBC cruiserweight title fight versus former champ Ilunga Junior Makabu.

The scheduled twelve-round title fight will headline a Don King-promoted Pay-Per-View event this Saturday (Fite TV, 8:00 p.m. ET, $19.99 USD) from Casino Miami Jai Alai in Miami, Florida.

Mikaelyan (26-2, 11KOs) signed with King to land this very fight, which was previously due to take place on January 21 at this very location. The mandatory title fight was tabled when Makabu (29-3, 25KOs)—a Congolese southpaw now based out of South Africa—was permitted to instead face Badou Jack in a more lucrative fight.

The plan backfired as Jack scored a 12th round stoppage to win the title and end Makabu’s three-year reign.

Meanwhile, Mikaelyan was left without a fight of any kind and has been inactive since last February 12. A win over Youri Kalenga saw the 33-year-oid Armenian-born, German boxer become the mandatory challenger but without a fight date.

Hopes of challenging Jack for the title ended when the three-division beltholder willingly downgraded his status to ‘Champion in Recess’ to instead pursue a shot at the WBC Brdigerweight title. Mikaleyan was first in line for the vacant WBC cruiserweight title, which set up the fight versus Makabu which has understandably flown well under the radar.

Mikaelyan has sadly grown far too accustomed to that but is now in a position to significantly raise his profile.

“I’ve been watching him for a long time,” noted Mikaelyan of the former champ as he enters his first title fight. “I’ve been on the sidelines a long time but I am ready to win this fight and let the world know who I am.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox