infamously struck popular Australian trainer Tommy Mercuri in the ring with a post-fight \u201cdog shot\u201d last year<\/a>.<\/p>\nA life ban was handed to Jason-Manuel but still had to be formally imposed, Badel said, with Zerafa told not to attend until the issue had been settled.<\/p>\n
The fighter himself reiterated he was only following instructions but now appears happy to move on from the incident.<\/p>\n
‘Dark things’ Nikita’s emotional reveal | 02:17<\/p>\n
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia after the weigh-ins however, Zerafa did not mention his brother as being the cause and instead blamed the media for painting him out as the villain \u2013 despite other issues being at play.<\/p>\n
However, the fighter would not be drawn on what said issues were, insisting he was also still in the dark about why he had been asked to stay away from the event.<\/p>\n
Zerafa added that his decision to delete an Instagram post where he threatened legal action against No Limit — suggesting they had defamed him \u2013 came after speaking at length with the promoters.<\/p>\n
The Melburnian also stressed there was no ongoing beef between himself and No Limit, and said he looked forward to sitting down after this fight and working through a deal for a Nikita Tszyu showdown.<\/p>\n
Asked about his press conference no show, Zerafa started: \u201cI woke up on Monday to what I thought was going to be a beautiful day. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut then I was told not to attend the press conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that upset me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought there was going to be some sort of game happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething shifty going on.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I released a statement on my social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I have to apologise to No Limit because I assumed it was them (looking to paint him in a negative light) \u2026 it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was miscommunication \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Bad blood between Rose and Zerafa? | 01:13<\/p>\n
Pushed on the no show, Zerafa shifted blame to the media.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was told by No Limit not to attend for certain reasons,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought it was to make out like I didn\u2019t attend.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that was the media.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey made out like it was a no-show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel like I always get blamed as the troublemaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I woke up Monday and the trouble found me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
So as for why specifically was he asked not to attend?<\/p>\n
\u201cI still don\u2019t know,\u201d he shrugged. \u201cHave no idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in the dark with it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve said we will sit down after the fight and work it all out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nikita Tszyu, meanwhile, said after weighing in that he had seen Zerafa at the weigh-ins and they had been \u201call smiles\u201d \u2013 despite The Butcher having branded his likely future rival an attention-seeking coward only last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven at the Bondi thing,\u201d Tszyu said referencing Sunday\u2019s open workouts, \u201che came up, shook hands everything was OK \u2026 then apparently he said some s*** afterwards\u201d.<\/p>\n
Specifically, Zerafa told Fox Sports Australia that the youngest Tszyu was embarrassing the legacy created by his Hall of Fame father Kostya, and should drop the schtick around his \u2018Butcher\u2019 persona.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, Tszyu has since shrugged off that attack but was asked after Tuesday\u2019s weigh-ins what his grandfather Boris, a constant by the side of both fighting Tszyu brothers, had said about all that?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think he knows,\u201d the fighter grinned. \u201cAnd my granddad probably thinks I\u2019m an embarrassment as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu explains why he drinks breast milk | 02:56<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the younger Tszyu sibling also said he had \u201czero issues\u201d with the weight cut, and suggested he was set to prove himself to be a \u201cmore patient, thinking fighter\u201d in his comeback. <\/p>\n
The 27-year-old added that he knew he had to make changes after last year\u2019s Fight of the Year with Koen Mazoudier, a rival he says took him to places he had never been before.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I know what that dark side feels like now,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m prepared for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if I do go there again I know how to react.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnow the changes I need to make.\u201d<\/p>\n
And as for Wednesday night\u2019s opponent, Lulzim Ismaili?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to come to fight,\u201d Tszyu said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hasn\u2019t come all the way here from Germany for no reason.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has the desire to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my job to take it away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Zerafa also spoke of his ongoing fight build with the younger Tszyu sibling, saying: \u201cWe\u2019re building a weird relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shake hands and say hi to each other when we see each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a strange kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just hope he goes out there and makes a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen there might be a chance to sit down with his team.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I still feel like the biggest fight in Australia is myself and Tim Tszyu.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he has to get his mind right before returning.\u201d <\/p>\n
FULL CARD & WEIGH-IN RESULTS<\/p>\n
MAIN CARD (from 7:00pm AEST Wednesday)<\/p>\n
Nikita Tszyu (10-0, 8 KOs) \u2013 69.48kg vs. Lulzim Ismaili (12-0, 7 KOs) \u2013 69.40kg \u2014 10 rounds, Super Welterweight \u2013 WBO Inter-Continental Super Welterweight Title<\/p>\n
Michael Zerafa (33-5, 21 KOs) \u2013 72.20kg vs. Mikey Dahlman (18-1, 16 KOs) \u2013 72.32kg \u2014 10 rounds, Middleweight \u2013 WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight Title<\/p>\n
Brock Jarvis (22-2, 20 KOs) \u2013 70.96kg vs. Sam Beck (7-0, 4 KOs) \u2013 70.96kg \u2014 8 rounds, Middleweight Catchweight (71kg)<\/p>\n
Ahmad Reda (6-0, 5 KOs) \u2013 59.88kg vs. Bruno Tarimo (29-4-2, 8 KOs) \u2013 59.88kg – 10 rounds, Super Lightweight \u2013 Australian Super Lightweight Title<\/p>\n
Jasmine Parr (7-1, 2 KOs) \u2013 52.00kg vs. Efasha Kamarudin (8-0-1, 6 KOs) \u2013 51.30kg – 5×2 rounds, Super Flyweight<\/p>\n
PRELIMS (from 5:30pm AEST)<\/p>\n
Jacob Clenshaw (5-1-1, 4 KOs) \u2013 66.32kg vs. Isaias Sette (3-3-1, 1 KO) \u2013 66.48kg – 5 rounds, Welterweight<\/p>\n
Ashleigh Heal (Pro Debut) \u2013 74.32kg vs. Shannon Rose (0-1, 0 KO) \u2013 74.90kg – 4×2 rounds, Super Middleweight Catchweight (75kg)<\/p>\n
Blair Geraghty (Pro Debut) \u2013 63.40kg vs. Naki Saguba (1-1, 0 KO) \u2013 61.70kg – 4 rounds, Lightweight<\/p>\n
Brandon Grach (3-1, 2 KOs) \u2013 114.92kg vs. Bensyn Pauga (0-3, 0 KO) \u2013 114.12kg – 4 rounds, Heavyweight<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Controversial Aussie boxing star Michael Zerafa has backed down from legal threats made against boxing promoter No Limit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,689,802,60352,60359,60356,60361,60351,60355,60357,28364,11850,673,11876,677,33860,60353,668,60358,85,670,60360,60354],"class_list":["post-79099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-promoter","tag-conference-drama","tag-confernce-due","tag-dog-shot","tag-jason-manuel","tag-legal-threats","tag-life-ban","tag-limit-boxing","tag-michael-zerafa","tag-new-south-wales","tag-nikita-tszyu","tag-oceania","tag-peter-badel","tag-popular-australian-trainer","tag-press-conference","tag-press-conference-absence","tag-sports","tag-sydney","tag-tommy-mercuri","tag-weigh-in-results"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79099","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=79099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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