Michael Zerafa has laughed off claims Tim Tszyu is ready to take on the likes of super welterweight king Jermell Charlo, despite acknowledging his long-time rival looked "composed" and "neat" in his crushing defeat over Dennis Hogan in Newcastle.
Tszyu scored his 18th consecutive win since turning pro in 2016 and has exhibited huge growth inside the squared-circle over the last two years. Not only is he winning, he's showing a lot more power with his shots – leading to boxing legend Jeff Fenech and others to suggest Tszyu gave Hogan a tougher time than WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, twin brother of Jermell.
Even though Hogan went up in weight for the 2019 fight against (Jermall) Charlo (the Tszyu fight was at super welterweight) much of the conversation post-fight was how Tszyu dismantledthe Irishman in five rounds while the world middleweight champion finished him in seven, with commentators implying the convincing nature of the result should clear the way for Tszyu to match-up with the top-rated international fighters.
"That means nothing," Zerafa told Wide World of Sports the morning after Tszyu's victory.
"I went 12 rounds with (British star) Kell Brook. Does that make me a better fighter? Look credit to Tszyu he looked good. He isn't a bad fighter, he's doing well but again he's got someone in front of him that isn't doing any damage.
"I think Hogan was winning the fight (before his corner threw in the towel), he was landing more punches but lacked the power.
"Try and land those body shots on (Jermell) Charlo, I guarantee you he ain't going to come anywhere close. I think there were times he was exposed by Hogan."
While Tszyu wants to make the jump to fight the champions of the super-welterweight division, there are several variables that could stop that from happening.
The murky world of boxing politics and COVID restrictions will make things tough to get a title fight in the near future even though Tszyu is the WBO's No.1 contender. The champions of the division – US star Charlo (WBC, WBA, IBF) and Argentine Brian Castano (WBO) – are in talks for a unifying title bout, making a domestic fight for Tszyu more likely for his next mission.
Another option could be to to fight the winner of the May fight between Russian Magomed Kurbanov and Brit Liam Smith.
Zerafa believes he is likely to get a shot at Tszyu sooner rather than later but stressed he doesn't need the fight, with the Victorian in line to fight for a WBA interim middleweight world title shot that could pave the way for a showdown with either Japanese middleweight champion Ryota Murata or British star Chris Eubank Jr.
Zerafa said he had Hogan up four rounds to one when the fight was called in the fifth round, and if the Irishman had more "sting" in his punches Tszyu would have been in trouble. Even though Tszyu showed brutal force with his body punches, Zerafa claims the fight revealed more about Tszyu's weaknesses than his strengths.
"I think he's easy to be hit," he said. "He's very composed but that's all he's got basically. He's neat but he doesn't throw enough and he's not being hit by guys who have power.
"See how Hogan was holding on and how he (Tszyu) couldn't finish? He had him a few times but couldn't finish him, that's because of experience. He landed some overhands.
"If that was someone who could punch and those shots were landing then you can't walk forward and land body shots. When he's fighting the more experienced guys they are going to expose him.
"There are little things in the top level fights he's never been through and I know those things because I've been in there with those guys. I'm not taking anything away from Tszyu though, he did well.
"He looked good, he's growing. I don't want to keep coming out and saying I'm bagging Tim Tszyu, that's not the case at all, I just believe I have what it takes to beat him."
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.