{"id":417298,"date":"2026-01-16T17:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T17:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/417298\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T17:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T17:03:09","slug":"michael-zerafa-threatens-to-quit-after-nikita-tszyu-fight-interview-with-ben-damon-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/417298\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Zerafa threatens to quit after Nikita Tszyu fight, interview with Ben Damon, video"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Zerafa has unleashed an expletive-laden rant backstage after his controversial showdown with Nikita Tszyu<\/a>, claiming it wasn\u2019t his fault the fight was stopped and hinting that he may hang up his gloves.<\/p>\n

The blockbuster grudge match, which gripped the nation, ended in bitter anticlimax on Friday night at Brisbane\u2019s Entertainment Centre when the bout was waved off by referee Chris Condon at the start of the third round on the ringside doctor\u2019s advice.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

N. Tszyu vs Zerafa | Friday 16 Jan from 7pm AEDT | The trash talk and bitterness come to a head when Nikita Tszyu steps into the ring to face Michael Zerafa in one of the most anticipated fights in Australian boxing history. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.<\/p>\n

After an accidental headclash, Zerafa developed a cut over his left eye that was attended to by his corner in the break.<\/p>\n

The ringside doctor inspected the wound. Zerafa could be clearly seen saying \u201cI cant see\u201d.<\/p>\n

Referee Condon had no choice but to wave off the fight as the Brisbane crowd booed loudly. <\/p>\n

Backstage, a furious Zerafa told host Ben Damon that it wasn\u2019t his fault.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m over this s**t, man,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctor came, asked me, covered my eye and said, \u2018Can you see?\u2019 I said it\u2019s blurry. He never gave me the opportunity to continue. Nothing, just waved it off. The referee waved it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zerafa then instructed his cornerman to explain what happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael asked me if it was sweet (the cut) and I said yeah, it was nothing,\u201d said the cornerman.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think it\u2019d impair his vision too much, didn\u2019t bleed at all. I thought he was able to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

REACTION: Fury as Tszyu calls out Zerafa\u2019s \u2018cowardly\u2019 act and exposes ugly \u2018truth\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

“Took the first exit!” Nikita reacts | 05:45<\/p>\n

Zerafa then doubled down on his claim he was fine to keep fighting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said I was sweet as. I answered the doctor\u2019s question. He said is there blood in your eye. I said it\u2019s blurry, but sweet. Never gave me the chance\u2026 he just waved it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Damon queried Zerafa on his exact choice of words to the ringside doctor.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did say to the doctor that you couldn\u2019t see,\u201d Damon said. <\/p>\n

Zerafa fired back: \u201cOut of that eye! Because he told me to cover it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was sweet. I was just answering his questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctor asked me questions, I just answered the questions. I said it was blurry\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was blood in my eye.<\/p>\n

\u201c[There was no] Do you want to continue? Do you want to keep going? Nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIm just as confused and angry as everyone else. It was a tough fight, me and Nikita, I\u2019m over this s**t man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chaos erupts after controversial ending | 09:58<\/p>\n

Zerafa then dropped a bombshell as he hinted that Friday night\u2019s bout might be the last time fight fans ever see him in the ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if they\u2019re going to see me back in the ring, man,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m f**king done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve bled for this sport. I\u2019ve done everything for this sport. I never get the credit I deserve. It\u2019s bulls**t.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel sorry for Nikita and the fight fans. Myself. Everybody\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst it was the bulls**t that I didn\u2019t rock up, wave it off, New South Wales doctor. I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m not saying anyone is behind it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Damon asked Zerafa if he was alleging \u201ca conspiracy\u201d against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to say that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at my eye. I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Damon then asked Zerafa if he understood why the crowd was so angry in the aftermath of the bout.<\/p>\n

“Took the first exit!” Nikita reacts | 05:45<\/p>\n

\u201cI never quit,\u201d Zerafa maintained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I apologised out there. Even Nikita said \u201cyeah, it\u2019s a cut\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you want me to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c… I had to get escorted out of here. It\u2019s bulls**t, man. I\u2019m over this s***t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zerafa famously upset the Tszyus and thousands and fans after walking out on a 2021 headliner against Tim Tszyu.<\/p>\n

Tonight\u2019s result will do little in improving his standing among them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Zerafa has unleashed an expletive-laden rant backstage after his controversial showdown with Nikita Tszyu, claiming it wasn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-417298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417298","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=417298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}