Ugly truth behind Zerafa's 'weak' withdrawal

Australian boxing great Billy Dib says Michael Zerafa's withdrawal from his July 7 fight with Tim Tszyu makes the Victorian fighter look "weak".

Zerafa pulled out of the heavily anticipated fight because of concerns relating to health and financial-well being of his team.

Members of his team were worried about the loss of income they would have to wear having to quarantine after leaving Newcastle. But the NSW government and the Victorian COVID response team assured his camp it was safe to travel to the region and they would only need to take a COVID test upon re-entering Victoria and wait for a negative result which would take approximately 24 hours.

Promoters for the event pulled every string to make the fight happen – even allowing Zerafa to weigh in for the fight in Melbourne, before leaving on the day of the bout in a private jet. The jet would then take him and his team back home after the fight. But he still said no, citing the risks of the virus despite Newcastle having no positive cases and being declared an orange zone, safe to travel to according to authorities.

Boxers Tim Tszyu and Michael Zerafa face off at a press conference at The Star Casino.

Zerafa was set to make $300,000 for this fight and his withdrawal is set to cost broadcasters and promoters $1 million. To say stakeholders are ticked off is an understatement.

"It's going to take a long time to recover from this," Dib told Wide World of Sports. "You can't leave it until the last second and then pull the pin, that's just not right.

"I don't know who is advising him but he should've got on the plane and did the job. Even losing, he's not going to get as much flak for doing what he's done now.

"Honestly it makes him look weak and he never wanted to fight. To me he didn't look committed. He didn't look like he wanted to do the fight.

"He talked it up and then when it came time to get serious he didn't want to do it. Even when he said he was 'Micky Hatton' he started to backpedal.

"When Tim looked like he was going to kill him on the table Zerafa pulled back."

Dib said he understood Zerafa's concerns, conceding fighting through the pandemic wouldn't be easy. Although his responsibility as a professional athlete is to adhere to and endure any terms placed on his participation for the fight. The fact that he let variables out of his control dictate proves his head wasn't in the right place, Dib claims.

"Michael has to worry about the fight not worry about his team and what they're going to do when they get home," the former champion added. "What he should be thinking is 'I'm going to come to Newcastle, I'm going to beat Tim and I'm going to set up another big fight'. Not about this other stuff.

"That's the way Tim is thinking. He's got that mindset, he's on a high and he's killing it. His whole thing is nobody can beat me."

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Tszyu will now face Steve Spark (12-1, 11 KO) next Wednesday with the promotion moving forward without Zerafa. The decision to quit has been described as "embarrassing" by Australia's boxing fraternity.

With the likes of the Moloney brothers and George Kambosos enduring weeks of quarantine to prove themselves on the other side of the world with the latter even willing to forego his child's birth for a world title shot, Dib believes Zerafa was beaten before the fight.

"In my opinion he wasn't even thinking about winning. He was complaining about everything going into the fight," he said.

"You can't be thinking about none of that if you're a fighter. You just gotta think about going there to win.

"Like Kambosos, look at the sacrifices that he's made. He's left his whole family behind to go to America for months on end and Teofimo pulls out last minute because of the COVID situation which is no fault of his own now he's stuck in America waiting for the fight to come around.

"That's sacrifice and that's wanting it. You've got to commend the guy on his commitment. He wants to win and he's doing whatever it takes."

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