Noel began his professional career on 13 November 1973, fighting in Port-of-Spain, he beat Art de Freitas by second round knockout.
The fight, scheduled for fifteen rounds, was stopped in the tenth with Noel's opponent, Fitzroy Guisseppi, unable to continue.
Prior to this fight Noel had built up a record of nineteen wins and just two losses, both against Lennox Blackmoore via tenth round technical knockout.
Noel and his opponent, the Venezuelan Ernesto Espana, were fighting for the WBA title recently vacated by Roberto Durán.
Although he was able to recover, he was knocked down once again in the ninth round and he was unable to beat the referee's count for the third knockdown, which ended the fight in the thirteenth.