A genuine grudge match will take place in Australia on July 7th, as unbeaten 154-pound contender Tim Tszyu will face middleweight Michael Zerafa, who will be dropping down in weight for the fight he has been calling for some time. The fight was officially announced at a press conference in Sydney earlier today.
Tszyu, son of the great Kostya Tszyu, has been working very hard to carve out his own identity, his own name. And so far, the 26-year-old has put in some impressive performances. Currently 18-0(14) Tszyu is coming off a crushing stoppage win over Dennis Hogan in March. Zerafa, 28-4(17) and probably best known for his two thrillers with Jeff Horn (one win, one loss) insists he has faced the better opposition, however.
The 29-year old known as “Pretty Boy” said at today’s presser how Tszyu has fought “Venezuelan taxi drivers.” Tszyu shot back, labelling Zerafa “a YouTube fighter.”
“The talk stops,” Zerafa said. “Everyone is expecting fireworks with me. He can call me whatever he wants. When I was fighting world class opponents, he was drinking warm milk before bed so it doesn’t matter to me. You’ve never fought outside your backyard. You got dropped by Wade Ryan (Tszyu going down in the first, coming back to win on points, this back in 2017). I’m a different beast to Wade Ryan. At 26 years old you’re fighting a 37 year old Dennis Hogan. At 26 I was fighting Kell Brook for a world title.”
Zerafa is convinced Tszyu has been avoiding him, that he doesn’t really want to fight him. Tszyu naturally disagrees and all of Australia seems to be talking about this fight. Can Tszyu carry on his rise to the top? Will making 154 pounds affect Zerafa? Is Zerafa too tough for Tszyu? This one should prove quite special. Who wins? The pick here is Tszyu, but it could be his hardest, most demanding fight yet.
Tszyu will be having his second fight of 2021, as will Zerafa. Zerafa is coming off a quick and easy stoppage win over Anthony Mundine.