Michael Zerafa says he received 20 death threats in the aftermath of his controversial no-contest against Nikita Tszyu in January and furious fans contacted sponsors calling for him to be cut off.
Zerafa faces an uncertain future in the sport but has vowed to keep fighting despite being banned from No Limit, which is going to make it all the more difficult as he turns 34 at the end of March.
The fight was waved off seconds into the third round after Zerafa suffered a cut over his eye caused by a head clash.
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He told the ringside doctor "I can't see" before later saying he was fine to go and denying he said he couldn't see, rather his vision was "blurry".
That sparked a fierce reaction from fans at the venue and continued on social media, where some punters messaged his sponsors questioning their relationship with the fighter.
Speaking for the first time since the incident, Zerafa took aim at the media and those who sent death threats, saying the reaction to the no-contest "broke me".
"Still to this day I don't understand (the hate)," he said on The Billy Joe Podcast. "People say, 'It's because you bitched it', but I didn't.
"I had a genuine injury. I was winning the fight.
"It broke me. I was on top. I've given my absolute all for this. When all that subsided, to see death threats, memes.
"In that 48 hours, I reckon I copped 20.
"We're talking 48 hours. You get so much crap, man.
"All directed at me. For what?
"It was, 'When I see you, I'll make sure I'll cut your throat, I know where you train, be expecting me there'."
He continued: "They reach out to sponsors and say, 'As if you're sponsoring this guy'.
"Sometimes it makes me just want to slap these people. How much do you hate your life?
"I get you might be jealous, but go and be jealous quietly."
Since the fight, Zerafa has kept a low profile but returned to social media this week. He's unfollowed No Limit and others on social media connected to the fight and deleted the statement he posted to Instagram apologising for his "poor choice of words" in the aftermath of the bout.
Zerafa also said "some of these media people need to be slapped" when discussing AFL player Lachie Neale's marriage breakdown on the podcast.
"It's their life, whatever happens off the footy field, it should be no one's business," he said.
"Some of these media people need to be slapped.
"I get it's their job, but my job is to fight, so if I come down throw you into a ring and beat the hell out of you, that's my job.
"Some of these media people, they've done it to me a thousand times.
"I've had back and forth with a lot of media people because they try to do me dirty."
Zerafa faces question marks from promoters and fans about his willingness to fight.
Yet he believes he has the right people around him now and is still determined to win a world title.
"I'm not done yet. I know a lot of people would like to see me done, but I've still got a fire burning," he said. "I've got a lot of people to prove wrong, I'm hungrier and better things are coming.
"I've cleaned out my backyard, it's time to get back to where I belong, back with the bigger guys, back where people know what they're doing.
"Boxing is a beautiful sport, but there's too many people with their hands in it who are destroying it.
"And I don't even need to say names."
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