Everything you need to know including full card<\/a><\/p>\nNikita not afraid ahead of Zerafa fight | 01:12<\/p>\n
While a huge fan of both Tszyu boys, Fenech said in what is effectively a 50\/50 fight, he gives the slight edge to the more experienced fighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re going on boxing ability \u2013 Michael Zerafa,\u201d Fenech said. \u201cThat\u2019s my pick.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it also depends on the real Michael showing up.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause that\u2019s the scary thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe greatest Michael Zerafa I\u2019ve seen hasn\u2019t turned up a lot of times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently, Sportsbet has both fighters locked in betting at $1.96.<\/p>\n
And Fenech agrees there is little separating the pair, especially given Zerafa, at 33, is also conceding six years to the younger Tszyu, whose undefeated career start has now gone 11 straight.<\/p>\n
However, Zerafa also represents easily the toughest test of The Butcher\u2019s career, having thrown down against the likes of Englishman Kell Brook, American Peter Quillin, Aussie legend Jeff Horn and reigning WBA champ Erislandy Lara.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo this really is tough one to pick,\u201d Fenech conceded. \u201cAnd one of the best 50\/50 fights I\u2019ve seen domestically in a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look at Nikita Tszyu, he\u2019s gone and beat everyone they\u2019ve put in front of him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis rise has been great.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd obviously Michael isn\u2019t young now, either. So there\u2019s not much in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven both guys are such good finishers, whoever lands cleanest first \u2026 that could be it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Fenech also stressed that he remains a fan of Zerafa outside the ring, despite his longtime persona as Australian boxing\u2019s undisputed bad boy.<\/p>\n
Plenty of fight fans have never forgiven Zerafa\u2019s walking away, in 2021, from what was supposed to be a hyped all-Australian blockbuster against Tim Tszyu.<\/p>\n
The moment forms part of a long-running feud with the Tszyus which is now finally going to be settled inside the ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I like Michael Zerafa, despite what people say,\u201d Fenech said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring this latter part of his career, I think he\u2019s been asked to say some stupid things to sell fights.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I don\u2019t think he needs to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s only ever needed to let his fists do the talking.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he\u2019s always had some amazing ability. I think he just needs the right people in his corner to bring that out in him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu vs Zerafa | Face Off | 25:50<\/p>\n
Fenech\u2019s prediction comes as Nikita Tszyu has also declared himself in a much better position mentally to handle any fight week trash talking from Zerafa \u2013 especially if he revives the now infamous \u2018Micky Hatton\u2019 line.<\/p>\n
Zerafa famously infuriated both Tszyu boys five years ago when, during a Face Off interview with Tim, he delivered a line that mocked the boys\u2019 Hall of Fame father Kostya \u2014 and his last ever career loss against Ricky Hatton.<\/p>\n
Looking to rev Tim Tszyu up during the interview, Zerafa declared: \u201cIt\u2019s f***ing Micky Hatton rocking up, I\u2019m taking over\u201d.<\/p>\n
Asked about that this past week, Nikita said: \u201cThe stuff he said five years ago [about Kostya] definitely got under my skin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was still young and naive, emotions got the better of me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I did have a lot of hatred towards him [Zerafa].<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019ve now matured. I know not to let those things control your actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know how to harness those emotions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if he does go down that path again \u2014 goes down the disrespect path \u2014 I know in the back of my head what I\u2019m going to do to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu then added: \u201cAll I\u2019m thinking about is how I\u2019m going to hurt him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a huge fight for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a moment where I get to elevate myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fighting one of the toughest opponents in the country. He possesses a threat I\u2019ve never faced before and the experience that he has, the skills that he has, they\u2019re all new to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s achieved a lot already, he\u2019s reached the pinnacle in challenging for a world title.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been unsuccessful multiple times but he\u2019s experienced it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still yet to experience it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still on the rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can still see above me and there is a lot of drive to get there; I think that can be the motivating factor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian boxing great Jeff Fenech has opened up on the sparring session that has him tipping Michael Zerafa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,689,2802,2763,802,215799,215797,215796,215793,81736,3697,215790,215795,215794,27662,38311,28364,215792,2782,11876,677,6492,215798,215789,215788,29634,85,215787,5942,106313,215791,215786,2836],"class_list":["post-407132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-boxing","tag-australian-boxing-history","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-ability","tag-closest-domestic-headliners","tag-daniel-lewis","tag-disrespect-path","tag-face-off","tag-fight-fans","tag-four-division-world-champ","tag-hyped-all-australian-blockbuster","tag-hyped-career","tag-jeff-fenech","tag-kayo-sports","tag-limit-boxing","tag-michael-zerafa-i","tag-nick-walshaw","tag-nikita-tszyu","tag-oceania","tag-ricky-hatton","tag-scary-thing","tag-secret-sparring-session","tag-sparring-reveal","tag-sparring-session","tag-sports","tag-stupid-things","tag-tim-tszyu","tag-trash-talk","tag-undefeated-career-start","tag-unsuccessful-multiple-times","tag-world-title"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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