Ryan Rozicki Wants World Title Shot in 2026

Cruiserweight contender Ryan Rozicki (20-1-1, 19 KOs) is looking to put the disastrous 2025 behind him in which he tore a tendon in his right bicep that forced him to withdraw from his long-awaited world title shot against then-WBC cruiserweight champion Badou Jack in May 2025 and have a better 2026 in which he can obtain another world title shot, but first, he must defeat Gerardo Mellado (12-4, 7 KOs) this Saturday, March 7th.

“I overtrained a bit in camp for the Jack fight, leading up to sparring. Before I started to spar, my arm was tight, but I thought it would loosen up as I sparred. Then, I threw my first punch, a right hand, and my tendon in my right bicep immediately snapped,” said Rozicki, who had waited over three years for his world title bout.

Then, in September, while he was training at the Oakville Boxing Academy in Ontario, Canada, with his new trainer, Hayden (Gord) Jones (a former amateur boxer), whom he had worked with for the last ten months, he reinjured his right bicep during sparring. Rozicki was preparing to fight Akani Phuzi in October, however, the injury forced him to withdraw from his second consecutive bout.

“I went against everyone’s advice on recovering from my injury and started sparring too soon. I thought I was good, but I quickly re-aggravated my tendon, which caused it to swell up. I was lucky that I did not tear it again,” said Rozicki, who believes his injury is 100 percent healed since he took the proper amount of time to rest it.

The 31-year-old orthodox fighter will return to the ring against Mellado in the main event at the Centre 200, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, where he has fought his last three bouts. This will be Rozicki’s first bout in fifteen months, which will end the longest layoff of his ten-year career.

“I expect this to be a good fight for as long as it lasts,” said a confident Rozicki, who has primarily sparred with cruiserweight fighter Hassan “Hsmash” Oseni (2-2, 1 KO) during training camp. “He [Mellado] likes to move forward and looks for the knockout himself, so once I land a clean punch, the fight will be over.”

Mellado, a thirty-three-year-old orthodox fighter from Valdivia, Chile, has won six of his last eight fights. He scored a second-round knockout over Carlos Enrique Peralta Ramos in February, and then, in April, he lost a unanimous 10-round decision to 1-loss Juergen Uldedaj. This will be Mellado’s third fight outside his home country.

“I do not look past any opponents, so I am solely focused on fighting Mellado, but after this fight, I want to fight the world champions in the division,” said Rozicki, who is ranked number one by the WBC and number four by The Ring Magazine. “Obviously, I would like to fight for the WBC title since I have been after this belt for three years, but if an opportunity presents itself for another world title, I will take it.”

At the 63rd annual WBC convention, held in Bangkok, Thailand (from November 30 through December 5th), the WBC stated that Polish fighter Michal Cieslak is the mandatory challenger for the cruiserweight title shot against Noel Mikaelian. Cieslak moved ahead of Rozicki for the world title shot because he knocked out former world titleholder Jean Pascal in the fourth round in June 2025 for the interim WBC cruiserweight title, while Rozicki had not fought in over a year. The WBC did, however, inform Rozicki that he would have the first opportunity to fight the winner of the Cieslak-Mikaelian bout.

“I earned my shot at a world title shot. It was never taken away from me. I have never lost in the cruiserweight division [his one loss was to heavyweight Oscar Rivas for the bridgerweight world title in 2021]. Cieslak earned his shot when I was injured, so I cannot be mad that he is next in line for the world title fight. I cannot wait to fight the winner and have my chance to become a world champion,” said Rozicki, who attended the WBC convention.

Despite Rozicki being the mandatory challenger for Mikaelian for over two years, he never got his world title shot. Mikaelian refused to fight him and did not fight anyone else. Nevertheless, the WBC did not strip him of his title. Instead, they downgraded him to “Champion in Recess” and made Jack the champion. After Rozicki withdrew from his fight with Jack, Jack defeated Mikaelian via a disputed twelve-round majority decision in May. Mikaelian beat Jack in their rematch via a twelve-round unanimous decision in December 2025.

“It is extremely frustrating that I never got my world title fight against Mikaelian. He straight-up refused to fight me. He pulled out of five consecutive fights. There were three straight pull-outs; the fourth time, there was no explanation, and then the fifth time, he told me he did not want to fight me in Canada,” said Rozicki, who is promoted by Daniel Otter of Three Lions Promotions, who has been with him since 2018, two years into his professional career.

Since it might be a while before he is given a WBC world title shot, Rozicki is interested in fighting the Ring and IBF world champion Jai Opetaia (29-0, 23 KOs), who many boxing experts consider the best fighter at cruiserweight. Opetaia, however, has shown no interest in fighting Rozicki, and is scheduled to fight Brandon Glanton the day after Rozicki’s bout (March 8th).

“I would like to fight Opetaia. He is the boxer that everyone wants to fight since he is considered the best in the division. I will fight him anywhere, anytime. In his interviews, he says he knows who I am but claims he does not want to fight me because I do not have a title. However, the last seven opponents he has faced as well as Glanton, whom he will fight in March, do not hold titles, so I do not think that is a valid excuse not to fight me,” Rozicki said.

Rozicki is unbeaten in his last eight bouts (including a win and a draw with Yamil Alberto Peralta, who is ranked number three by the WBC), winning six by knockout. His lone professional loss was a twelve-round unanimous decision (116-111, 115-112, and 115-112) to his former sparring partner (1-loss) heavyweight Rivas for the bridgerweight (a new weight class the WBC added in 2020 for fighters between 200 and 224 pounds, and the WBA later added this division) world title in Rivas’s last professional fight.

In his last outing in December 2024, Rozicki was held to a twelve-round majority draw (115-113 for Rozicki, 114-114, and 114-114) in his rematch with Peralta for the interim WBC cruiserweight title. He overcame a badly swollen left eye that began to close early in the bout, and aggressive power punching hurt Peralta and prevented him from getting into any offensive rhythm. In their first fight about three years ago, Rozicki defeated unbeaten Peralta en route to a ten-round split decision (97-93 and 95-94 for Rozicki and 95-94 for Peralta) for the vacant WBC International cruiserweight title. This was the only decision he had won in his career.

The heavily tattooed, hard-working, old-school boxer has an all-out, aggressive, come-forward, offensive fighting style that focuses mainly on power punching. His fighting style is similar to that of his favorite boxing idol, Jack Dempsey. Rozicki shows reckless abandon in defense, taking three punches to land one shot. While this fighting approach leaves him vulnerable to cuts and severe bruising, it also allows him to land the knockout punch he has delivered throughout his career in both his left and right hands.

Rozicki has an impressive ninety-five percent knockout ratio. Of the nineteen fighters he has knocked out, eighteen have come inside the first three rounds, including his first twelve fights. Six of his knockouts have come in the first round. His knockouts have occurred in three divisions: heavyweight, bridgerweight, and cruiserweight, and some have come against fighters much heavier than he is, as he struggled to find top-level boxers willing to fight him.

He has gained invaluable fighting experience by sparring with several skilled boxers, including fellow countryman Eleider Alvarez (25-2, 13 KOs), a former light heavyweight world champion, and former heavyweight contender Adam Kownacki (20-4, 15 KOs).

For more information about Rozicki’s boxing career and upcoming fights, add him on X @RRpzicki, follow him on Instagram @Ryan_Rozicki, and friend him on Facebook: RyanRozickiBoxing.

“I appreciate all the support that everyone has given me over the years. I look forward to being back in the ring and putting on a good performance on March 7th. Do not blink because I am looking to end the fight early, like in the first round,” Rozicki said. “I just look at all my setbacks as a journey, which will be that much more rewarding when I finally win the WBC world title.”