Michael Zerafa has agreed to fight Chris Eubank Jnr after parting ways with No Limit.
The Australian’s agreement with the promotional organisation ended in the aftermath of his no contest in January with Nikita Tszyu, and he is ready to fight Eubank Jnr at a catchweight in the region of 164lbs in his home city of Melbourne in August or September.
Eubank Jnr’s rematch with Conor Benn at middleweight in November ended in defeat, perhaps partly because of his ongoing struggles to make 160lbs, and though his desire is to fight at super middleweight, according to Zerafa he is willing to compromise to participate in a contest that was almost made in 2024.
The Briton instead then fought and stopped Kamil Szeremeta, but with both of their options limited they have identified each other as suitable opponents against which to attempt to revive their careers, and to that end a potentially popular British-Australian match-up could be next.
“We’ve agreed,” the 34-year-old Zerafa told BoxingScene. “The fight’s real. Talk’s real. They want to come to Australia. They’ve seen the fights with [George] Kambosos and [Devin] Haney – the two fights there [in Melbourne]. They’ve seen the [Jeff] Horn and [Manny] Pacquiao fights.
“I’m a free agent, after the last saga, and we mutually went our ways. We left on good terms. But I’ve been talking to a few promoters and the guys that organised the Haney-Kambosos fights, and there’s a lot of people putting their hands up. It all comes down to who’s the better offer.
“I was one of four potential opponents in 2024. The name is royalty, with his old man and whatnot, so the fight was exciting but it didn’t come through – I moved on in my career. The last two or three weeks they’ve reached out again – I’ve been talking to his manager, who’s done interviews – and the fight’s real.
“They wanted to fight in Melbourne – it’s a financial thing, too, they’re not going to come down for peanuts. But I’ve got great backing for the Australian Government. We’ve got meetings, but it’s all looking positive.
“He tried to get me to 168. I said ‘I’m not going up that much’. I’m not the biggest middleweight, so I shut that down pretty quickly, but he was more than happy to meet somewhere in the middle – 74[kgs]; he goes down 1.5, I go up 1.5; we meet somewhere 74, 74.5 – and if the money’s good, which it will be, he’s more than happy to work with that.
“I love the opportunity of a big fight. I love being the underdog. I like testing myself, and this is what it’s all about. Eubank’s a huge name, and I’d love the opportunity.”
Zerafa’s reputation was undermined by the controversial conclusion to his fight with Tszyu, but he considers what he hopes will prove a high-profile occasion against the 36-year-old Eubank Jnr to be what he requires to rebuild it.
“Going out there, fighting a name like Eubank – he’ll be the favourite; I’ll be the underdog – and getting the win, what happened in the past needs to be forgotten, ‘cause I’ve gone out and done something even greater,” he said. “A knockout or a win against someone of the calibre of Chris Eubank is definitely better than a no contest against Tszyu.
“Full credit to Team Eubank. He’s willing to get on a plane and come to me. They know the fights that can be put on here in Australia and he wants to be amongst that.”
