A ruthless Tim Tszyu says he "couldn't care less" about how Michael Zerafa is feeling amid Melbourne's COVID-19 lockdown, as the rising Australian boxing sensation prepares to clash with him on July 7.
Zerafa and the rest of Greater Melbourne were hit with a crushing blow when the Victorian government announced this week that the lockdown had been extended by seven days.
But as Tszyu fine-tunes for his bout with Zerafa at Newcastle Entertainment Centre, the 26-year-old says he's only focusing on his own preparation.
"He'd be struggling out there … in lockdown," Tszyu told reporters with a wry grin.
"I completely block it out. I couldn't care less about what he's feeling. It's not up to me, I can't change things, I just keep on doing what I always do."
Adding to Zerafa's disrupted preparation was a kidney infection that left him feeling "a little green" and curled up "in a ball", although he's now out of hospital.
Tszyu is gearing up for the super-welterweight clash on the Gold Coast and he raved about the set-up.
"First of all, the weather here is beautiful. Feels like it's summer," Tszyu said.
"We've got a nice place by the beach where you can do your morning runs … there's plenty of sparring around here and the fact that you're away from home and all you have to do is focus on one thing and that's boxing … There's no birthdays, there's no christenings, there's no weddings; there's boxing and that's it."
Tszyu, the son of former light-welterweight world champion Kostya, was born in NSW – and he scoffed when a reporter suggested he should ditch the Blues for the Maroons.
"I'm born and bred in NSW and will always be a NSW boy," Tszyu laughed.
"But who knows? I love the Gold Coast; hopefully one day I can move here. Who knows where life can take ya?"
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