For Michael Zerafa, all roads lead to a Tszyu or two

Motivation can be a difficult thing to find in boxing, especially when you are coming off a loss.

The rebuilding phase can take time. The fights that build confidence often take place away from the bright lights and the big stage. Purses are shrinking. The bandwagon is ending. All but the rusty fans disappear.

No one knows this better than Michael Zerafa, who is coming off a second-round loss to WBA middleweight titleholder Erislandy Lara in March.

But Zerafa, 32, (31-5, 19 KOs) has a lot to fight for when he faces fellow 41-year-old Australian Tommy Browne (45-8-2, 19 KOs) at the ICC Sydney Theatre. in Sydney, Australia, next Wednesday night in an eight-round bout on the Nikita Tszyu vs. Koen Mazoudier undercard.

“My preparation has been good,” Zerafa told The Ring. “I have trained myself for war. I don’t exercise excessively; I train really smart. An idea struck me, inspiration struck. I feel fine.

“Tommy Browne is a tough guy. Glory to him for taking the fight. I know you’re coming to fight, and I’m not looking for anyone. I have a job to do next Wednesday the 28th, and that’s all I’m focused on.”

Browne is a hard-headed and tough type who has been a featherweight contender for the past two decades. The Sydneysider has won three straight fights against younger opposition with a combined record of 24-21 and is not looking to cause too many problems for Zerafa, but the Melburnian insists he is not looking at him.

“I have never looked at a knockout,” said Zerafa, who will be boxing at a weight of approximately 157 kg. “I just do my thing and try to set traps. If I put them in deep water, I will drown them. But if I see an opportunity to get out early, I will take it.

“It’s not something I’m looking at. I’m just going there to make a little statement.

“Look, I know you are strong and will come to fight. I like that; it brings out the best in me. When a boy brings a dog to him, I get fired up.”

In the Lara fight, Zerafa was punching hard enough until the Cuban southpaw timed him with a left bomb that landed on his chin late in the second round. Zerafa hit the deck, and though he reached his feet at the count of nine, he went back to the neutral corner, forcing referee Allen Huggins to wave us off the contest at the 2:59 mark.

“It was a tough pill to swallow,” Zerafa said of the loss on the undercard of the Tim Tszyu-Sebastian Fundora fight. “Going out like that was difficult. But that’s just a game. You must win when you win, and you must take losses as if you won. You have to have that same mindset.

“You can’t just throw in the towel. It’s still a success. You can’t just jump in and say, ‘I’m done’ and stop. Even though I lost and had a little sook in the back and whatnot, I didn’t look at the negatives. I said, ‘You know what, I fought with Lara. I fought the guy who beat Canelo Alvarez [and is] one of the best fighters to ever come out of Cuba, a future Hall of Famer. Look where I fight; I’m at T-Mobile Arena.’ It is a success. So as it was a loss, it is a win. Not many people, if any, get the chance to do what I did. It was amazing.”

Browne is more than just an opponent for Zerafa, who knows that a surprise win on a big domestic card like this will breathe new life into his career. A win could lead him directly to a fight with Nikita Tszyu (9-0, 7 KOs) who has beaten longtime WBO titleholder Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) in the future.

“I won’t talk too much,” Zerafa said when pressed about the details of his new three-fight deal with promoter No Limit. “I’m not sure what I can and can’t say. There was some back and forth, a few papers floating around. But there is the name Tszyu there – I don’t know if I can say it or not – but look, there is a plan to fight three times and their names are there, yes.”

Tim Tszyu’s younger brother Nikita has developed into a local star. With his do-it-all, march-forward style, the man known as “The Butcher” is already dominating local pay-per-view shows.

Mazoudier (12-3-1, 5 KOs) would be a good head start for the 26-year-old southpaw to claim at this stage of his career, but Zerafa cautions against comparisons.

“Nikita doesn’t know yet,” said Zerafa. “He’s still growing. He’s doing great things, but like I said, the Mazoudier fight will be a big test for him, because Mazoudier is moving; strong; boxes well. And as you said, Nikita gets hit a lot. “

He added: “I think in his last six [Nikita] you are injured or thrown in four of them. I’m different from the guys he’s been fighting with. The guys he fought with were tough and they went forward, but I think I’m on another level.

“Everybody gives up on my last performance, but before that, I beat Jeff [Horn]hit me [Issac] Hardman, I’m beating all these other guys who have placed before me, it’s easy to forget.

“But, again, I’m focused on Tommy Browne. I don’t really care about Nikita; he has his problem in front of him.”

Hardman’s mention is interesting. Two years ago, Hardman, who was 12-0 with 10 shutouts at the time, thought Zerafa would be the perfect step at that stage of his career. It was a big mistake for the Queenslander and his team. Hardman was stopped in two rounds.

“Everybody says, ‘Nikita is a big peach, Nikita this and Nikita this.’ The horn was the same,” said Zerafa. “He goes forward, he was strong, he was tough, he was the one who beat Manny Pacquiao. Then you have guys like Hardman, who is strong, tough, likes to go forward and he was a lot bigger than me. It’s the same; it didn’t end well for him. So let them think about that, let them do what they have to do. They have their own problems to worry about. I just focus on what I have to do. My job is like driving. I just focus on what I have to do; I don’t worry about other drivers on the road.”

With another incentive for Tszyu’s fight hanging in front of him, Zerafa says he is taking a scientific approach to the camp.

“Actually I train a lot, because I do everything smartly,” said Zerafa who will have a new corner in this fight, including Josh Arnold who is the team’s trainer, Glenn Rushton of Stretton Boxing Club and Matt Partridge.

“When I was young, I would wake up in the morning and run 25km (15 miles), try to get out in the open and try to run again. I was cooking my body. Now, I have the right strategy, the right recovery, and a chef who cooks all my meals now, according to the way I train. Everything has gone well and I feel very well.

“I come out after practice wanting to do more after spending two and a half hours in the gym. So I feel amazing. And come Wednesday night, I’m going to leave it all out there in the ring.”

Interview for the main fight on the nationally televised card. What more motivation could a boxer need?

Australian-based boxing journalist Anthony Cocks has been covering the sport for over 20 years in various publications and online. Follow him to X.