{"id":88546,"date":"2021-06-21T03:57:11","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T03:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=88546"},"modified":"2021-06-21T14:04:39","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T14:04:39","slug":"zerafas-dad-sledge-for-bitter-rival-tszyu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=88546","title":{"rendered":"Zerafa's dad sledge for bitter rival Tszyu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Zerafa<\/a> has branded himself "Mickey Hatton" before taking on fierce rival Tim Tszyu<\/a> in the boxing ring.<\/p>\n

The self-appointed nickname is a reference to Ricky Hatton – the man who ended Kostya Tszyu's legendary career with a shock 2005 stoppage.<\/p>\n

Zerafa (28-4, 17 KOs) now intends to bring his son's meteoric rise in boxing to a shuddering halt. The foes will fight in Newcastle on July 7 and Zerafa insists he will "take out Tim Tszyu" (18-0, 14 KOs).<\/p>\n

"I'm coming into this fight like Mickey Hatton, you know what I mean?" Zerafa told reporters at Sydney Airport on Monday.<\/p>\n

"I'm going to shock the world. I've done it before, I've been here before, familiar territory for me. I'm switched on, I'm focused. I wish the fight was tonight.<\/p>\n

"I'm gonna do what Ricky Hatton did. I'm coming for a fight, for a war. This is not Michael Zerafa, it's Mickey Hatton."<\/p>\n

\"Boxers<\/p>\n

Zerafa was hospitalised by a mystery sickness, which turned out to be a kidney problem, last month. The 29-year-old said that he was over his illness but it had been a genuine setback.<\/p>\n

"No one plans to be sick," he said.<\/p>\n

"I was in training, flat out at 100 per cent and that night I just felt a little bit crook, a little bit green and just wasn't up to coming to the media.<\/p>\n

"Then I ended up going to hospital and found out I had an infection in the kidneys. I just needed time, I just needed rest. It set us back that little bit but we've definitely made up for it."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Zerafa said that Melbourne's lockdowns, which limited his sparring options, had been another significant challenge.<\/p>\n

"A hundred per cent but it's out of my hands," he said.<\/p>\n

"You've just got to make do with what you've got. I know how to box, I've been doing this for 20-odd years, since [I was] a little kid.<\/p>\n

"I've been here before, I've been the underdog. I've fought the best in the world, gone the distance with some of the best in the world.<\/p>\n

"This is just another test. I'm all about making the biggest fights. Whether you love or hate me, it's about the sport itself and getting attraction to the sport. That's what I'm here to do."<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Zerafa said that he had no fear of Tszyu, 26, who has recorded brutal stoppages in his past four fights. He pointed to a CV that includes losses against former world champions Kell Brook and Peter Quillin as proof that he would not be overawed.<\/p>\n

"While I was fighting the big boys, he was drinking warm milk before bed," Zerafa said. "He calls it quiet, I call it focused, switched on.<\/p>\n

"Take nothing away from Tim and his team. They're growing every fight. Tim's a great athlete [with] a great team. His dad's been there … they know what needs to be done. <\/p>\n

"I can't take nothing away from them, it takes a lot of balls to get in the ring and fight and he's stepping up against a guy that wants to take his head off. A guy that's been at the top many times before.<\/p>\n

"All the pressure's on him. I've got no pressure on me, I'm expected to lose. That's dangerous for him. There's no nerves, it's just full confidence for me.<\/p>\n

"This fight's my life. He might think it's all talk but it's going to be a war. It will be a war."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Zerafa said that he was intent on snatching away Tszyu's standing as a world title contender.<\/p>\n

"This win for me is a world title fight and that's what Tim doesn't understand. This fight, to me, is my life," Zerafa said.<\/p>\n

"I'm going in here with no stone left unturned. I've done everything right the last 12, 14 weeks, from food, training, sleep, recovery – everything."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Zerafa has branded himself "Mickey Hatton" before taking on fierce rival Tim Tszyu in the boxing ring. The self-appointed nickname is a reference to […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88546"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=88546"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88548,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88546\/revisions\/88548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}