If this fight happens it will be absolutely huge for Australian boxing. Middleweight contender Michael Zerafa yesterday broke the news that he and Gennady Golovkin have “verbally agreed” to fight In Australia next March. 30 year old Zerafa, best known for his fights with Kell Brook (a loss), Jeff Horn (a win and a loss) and Anthony Mundine (a win) spoke with Fox Sports in Australia and he said he will be challenging GGG for his two middleweight belts.
Zerafa, 30-4(19) is obviously buzzing about the fight, stating how it will be huge for his country. And Zerafa has already got a plan for what will come after the fight with Triple-G – an all-Australian mega-fight between himself and Tim Tszyu. Zerafa was supposed to fight Tszyu some months back but he withdrew from the fight at late notice, this in 2021.
GGG has of course not fought since losing his trilogy bout with with Canelo Alvarez. Against Zerafa, Golovkin, though past his best, will doubtless be a significant favourite to win. However, before the Golovkin fight opportunity, Zerafa will face unbeaten Italian fighter Danelo Creati, this on November 23, on the under card of the heavyweight clash between Paul Gallen and Justin Hodges. Zerafa says he is taking the Creati fight because he wants to “stay active,” with him pointing out how it has been seven months since his last fight; this a TKO win over Isaac Hardman.
So, what kind of a fight can we expect if, or when, GGG rumbles with Zerafa? Again, Golovkin is past his best and we have no idea how much the 40 year old has left. That said, Golovkin is leaps and bounds above Zerafa in terms of class and experience, and GGG has only been beaten by Canelo. But whoever wins, the Golovkin-Zerafa fight might be ranked as the biggest in Australian boxing history, bigger perhaps than the Jeff Horn-Manny Pacquiao fight.
Zerafa is a warrior, he has shown that numerous times, and he can bang. If Golovkin, 42-2-1(37) has faded more so than we think, then who knows, maybe Zerafa can pull off the win? And then land that big fight with Tszyu (who is set to challenge unified 154 pound champ Jermell Charlo in January).
These are exciting times for Australian boxing, that’s for sure.