“I’m going to be quiet and make statements.”
That seems difficult to do for controversial boxer Michael Zerafa. But one thing he says he does know, is that he will follow in George Kambosos’ footsteps and become Australia’s next world champion.
“Full credit to him. George is leading the way and I promise to follow the same path and it all starts on December 17th,” Zerafa told Wide World of Sports.
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It’s a big statement, but Zerafa (28-4) is full of those. The Victorian fighter hasn’t been in the ring properly since his controversial loss to Jeff Horn in December 2019, and will attempt to get his career back on track when he defends his WBA Oceania middleweight title against Fijian Siliveni Nawai (12-4-1) at the Ultima Function Centre in Melbourne. Sure he fought Anthony Mundine earlier this year, but he barely raised a sweat.
The 29-year-old Zerafa has been forced to take a step back in order to move forward because of the inactivity sparked by the pandemic and the much publicised fallout from his decision to pull out of his fight with Tim Tszyu in July, due to concerns over COVID-19.
While he refuses to call the clash against Nawai a tune up fight, he did acknowledge it is a stepping stone to a bigger bout next year against Brisbane-based Isaac Hardman, who’s promoted by Dean Lonergan, and is fast making a name for himself on the domestic scene.
“He’s been in there with some good Australian guys. He’s two divisions heavier than me,” Zerafa said.
“For me it’s about being focused and switched on. Two years is a long time to be out of the ring. Try waiting for a bus for two years it’s a very long time.
“I’m not taking my eyes off what’s ahead with this Fijian and then Hardman ahead. I’m training super hard twice a day I’m not here to be that guy and a flog and that.
“I take every fight seriously but this is more just to get the body back into the routine in preparation, in camp. You know just being strict again. He’s got everything to gain.
“Not much for me to gain if not nothing to gain really but it’s about getting the mind and body prepped. Once this fight is done we’ve got big things for next year. April we have the Hardman fight. We’re in talks to make that fight happen.”
As far as watching tape on Nawai, Hardman or any other fighter for that matter, Zerafa steers clear. He said he leaves that up to his team to dissect weaknesses and strengths and he just goes into the ring and throws hands.
“I just observe them (like a casual fan). I’m not going to go back and watch what they do and what they don’t do. I’ve got my focus on myself. For me it’s like driving.
“If you have to worry about what everyone else is doing you’re going to drive yourself insane. For me I just focus on myself.
“My team does all the home work on their training and their fights.”
As Zerafa makes his return to the ring, a cloud still hangs over the middleweight among the key decision-makers at Main Event.
Australia’s only pay-per-view channel put up a significant amount of money to market Zerafa’s clash with Tszyu. It was seen as a huge event because of the rising animus between the men, and since Zerafa is the only fighter Tszyu has not beaten. Some reports say Main Event lost north of $1 million, and to say broadcast bosses were furious would be a gross understatement.
A source told Wide World of Sports key people are still “pissed off” with Zerafa and his future on PPV events in Australia is uncertain.
The fighter said his people reached out after the Tszyu fight was cancelled, and he never set out to get the “TV people” offside.
“As soon as the fight was cancelled we reached out and my team and everybody said to them and the fight fans around Australia ‘let’s postpone this fight; let’s do it again’,” he said.
“Unfortunately it didn’t go that way and a few people got upset along the way. It’s sad and it was never our intention but we’re slowly building back up. I hope they do (give us another shot) but you can’t stop a fighter’s career for something that I had no control over.
“There was so much uncertainty a lot of ups and downs and a lot of she said he said and a lot of confusion.
“But a lot of people are mistaken. I hope they can get me back on there. I sell PPVs; a lot of people whether they love or hate me tune in.
“It would be a shame if they didn’t use me because I bring the people to the TV.
“We apologised, we are sincerely sorry that anyone was out of pocket, or missed out, it was never our intention to cause any drama with the TV side of things or the fans. I’m sure they’re reasonable people. There are some really good match ups coming up.”
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