Tszyu is unhappy with Zerafa’s refusal, the coach accuses of cowardice

Middleweight contender Michael Zerafa received criticism after canceling a scheduled fight with Australian Tim Tszyu. The fight was scheduled for July 7 in Newcastle, but Zerafa and his team refused to board the plane due to the latest COVID outbreak, and Zerafa did not want to be quarantined upon returning to Melbourne. Zerafa has complained for years that Tszyu avoids meeting him, but now Steve Spark will play in the ring against Tszyu instead.

Jeff Fenech, a former three-weight world champion, believes Zerafa is giving up the fight against Ricky Hatton. Tim Tszyu flew into a rage when Zerafa brought up the topic.

“Maybe he saw something in Timmy’s eyes when he mentioned his father,” Fenech told Sporting News. – I saw something. That day I saw something that frightened even me. I’m serious. It wasn’t like the moment Paul Gallen said something like that about Justice Hoonie’s father — there was no reaction. But Tim Tszyu was furious. I have seen that”.

Tszyu dismisses Zerafa’s explanation and seems to adhere to Fenech’s position on the matter – Zerafa’s behavior has changed since their recent conversation.

“I don’t think that in history [представленной Зерафой] there is some truth. It doesn’t make sense, ”Tszyu said in an interview with Fox Sports. – Maybe the point is in his preparation – there could be some problems. He’s a brave fighter – he fought Kell Brook – so it’s hard to believe he was just scared. But that upset me a lot. He was definitely shocked [нашим недавним разговором]… My reaction was cool and he didn’t like it. He immediately retreated, but this was clearly not enough to scare him away. Anyway, I don’t think so. “

Fenech considers Sparka a dangerous opponent and believes that he will present Tszyu with a more difficult task in the ring than Zeraf could have done.

“Such an opponent Tim should be wary of, – said Fenech. – You need to be very careful with these guys who believe in themselves, can hit and go into battle with anyone. It will be more difficult than it could have been with Zerafa. If he trained, it will be much more difficult. This is an adversary that Tim must be careful with. Don’t think that this is just praising a weak opponent, but he really needs to think twice as much now. This makes a big difference in the week before the fight. “