Michael Zerafa and Tommy Browne will fight each other in an all-Australian professional boxing clash, promoted by No Limit Boxing, on Wednesday at the ICC Sydney Theatre in New South Wales. The Micheal Zerafa vs Tommy Browne pro boxing fight will be live streamed in Australia.

The Zerafa vs Browne bout is one of eight fights scheduled to take place at the ICC Sydney Theatre on Wednesday. Australian pro boxers Nikita Tszyu, unbeaten in pro boxing, and Koen Mazoudier will compete for the Australian Super Welterweight title in the headline event of the day. Northern Ireland’s Conor Wallace will face Kiwi boxer Jerome Pampellone for the WBO Inter-continental Light Heavyweight title.

The Michael Zerafa vs Tommy Browne pro boxing fight will be live streamed on Fox Sports, Kayo and Main Event in Australia. The event will start at 7:00 PM AEST on August 28.

Michael Zerafa is heading into fight week with guns blazing as he looks to return to the winners’ circle when he faces Tommy Browne in Sydney next Wednesday. The recent world title challenger again hit out at long-time rival Tim Tszyu, while also firing back at Koen Mazoudier, the man who will face Nikita Tszyu in the main event.

Wishing to challenge the narrative that Tim Tszyu is being avoided by potential opponents, Zerafa said several fighters had reached out to him following his comments regarding the failed negotiations between Tszyu’s camp and Erickson Lubin.

“Do you know how many people, including Lubin himself, messaged me?” Zerafa told Sporting News.

“I had Charlos, proper fighters reaching out to me, promoters, trainers, everyone saying, ‘Spot on.’

“One opponent, you say, ‘He ran scared.’ Whatever, it happens all the time. But every opponent?

“The people that he’s saying are running scared from him end up fighting bigger and better names. 

“He said ‘this guy pulled out’ and then he goes and fights Canelo. 

“Tszyu’s just sitting there saying, ‘They’ve run scared. Another one’s run scared.’ And people are believing this nonsense.

“I don’t even know what to say, I genuinely don’t even know what to say anymore. No matter what I say, people will go, ‘Zerafa this and Zerafa that.’ I don’t know.

“I heard him in an interview say that Canelo Alvarez is running scared from him, and Terence Crawford. 

“Like surely people aren’t believing this? Surely. I don’t know, man. It’s got me stuffed.”

Zerafa is fighting for the first time since his second-round knockout defeat to Erislandy Lara for the WBA middleweight world title in Las Vegas back in March.

Mazoudier accused Zerafa of “quitting” in that fight in an interview with News Corp last month, adding that the Victorian had previously turned down the opportunity to fight him.

“We’re talking about a guy that came out of a nut house,” Zerafa said when asked about Mazoudier’s comments, referencing the Sydneysider’s public mental health struggles. 

“I don’t really have too much to say, I don’t really care, he’s talking about me quitting in Vegas for a world title, somewhere he’ll never see, so it doesn’t really matter to me.”

Zerafa confirmed Mazoudier was one of several names offered to him for a short-notice bout in late 2022.

“He’s delusional. They asked me to fight Mazoudier amongst seven others,” he added.

“I only had two weeks for that fight, they offered me Ben Mahoney, they offered me Wade Ryan, who I’ve already fought, they offered me Mazoudier.

“I said for these guys, I need more than two weeks and I told Mazoudier that. I’ll fight [Danilo] Creati who’s an undefeated fighter who nearly beat Nikita. 

“I didn’t cherry pick, I just chose a more comfortable opponent in terms of the time limit that I had.”

While he wouldn’t confirm the specifics of a three-fight deal with No Limit Boxing, Zerafa hopes a bout with Nikita Tszyu will follow this one, pending them both getting through their respective opponents next week.

Now 32, Zerafa said he’d taken valuable lessons from his loss in Vegas earlier this year and he appears to be sitting more comfortably in his role as the villain in Australian boxing’s pantomime.

“I just feel good. That loss, as much as I never wanted, I needed it,” he said.

“Being out of the ring for 16 months, I got real complacent, I got real repetitive. 

“I kept telling myself I’d done a 16-month camp and then when I got out there I just was not prepared. 

“Anyone that knows boxing knows that when I’m on, I’m a very hard person to beat. 

“It’s going to be an intense week, I can already feel it. From Sunday to Wednesday, it’s going to be intense. I love it.”

And has he got a post-fight callout ready to go should he get the win on Wednesday night?

“100 per cent,” he said.

“You’ll hear it, nice and loud and you’ll hear all the boos in there too, we’ll get them going.”

Nikita Tszyu has questioned how long Michael Zerafa can continue with his schtick of being Australia’s boxing bad boy, suggesting the polarising Melburnian is not only jealous of his family but “convincing himself he doesn’t need the love while crying himself to sleep”.

The claim comes as Zerafa insists the Tszyu brothers are not the only fighters on his roadmap back to a world title, revealing talks are already underway with IBF officials regarding a pathway to the middleweight crown currently held by Janibek Alimkhanuly.

After several days of jawing, both Tszyu and Zerafa are set to come face-to-face at a No Limit open workout session on Sunday.

The event, set to be held inside Tony Mundine’s Redfern gym, will officially kick off fight week activities for Wednesday night’s Pay-Per-View event at the ICC Theatre.

While Tszyu defends his Australian super welterweight title against Koen Mazoudier in the headliner, Zerafa is looking to become next man up for ‘The Butcher’ in his undercard fight against veteran Tommy Browne.

The fight will be Zerafa’s first appearance since being kayoed by WBA champ Erislandy Lara in March, and ‘Pretty Boy’ is promising to make more than a little noise at the workouts -- convinced he can land fights with both Nikita and Tim Tszyu within a year.

The younger of the two siblings isn’t so convinced however, and has described the outspoken 32-year-old landing a spot on his latest Main Event showcase as desperate.

“The fact Michael Zerafa is on my undercard, I find it amusing,” Tszyu told Fox Sports Australia this week.

“And I’m actually seeing desperation in him now.

“He’s trying so desperately to be relevant again, yet his only method for achieving that is to scream our surname and hope it gets him a bite.

“That’s all he can do.

“This is his one last chance to get some momentum going.”

Tszyu added Zerafa was “jealous” of his family’s popularity, and even craved it for himself, despite an ongoing insistence that he is happy playing the role of Aussie boxing villain.

“Michael claims to be the bad guy of Australian boxing,” Nikita continued. “Tells everyone how he enjoys being hated, that he’s OK with it all.

“But I know (the abuse), it gets to him.

“You can tell.

“He’s honestly a guy who wants to be loved, wants to be admired, but he just can’t get there.

“And that’s where I see his pain.

“His jealousy.

“He’s convincing himself he doesn’t need the love while crying himself to sleep”.

While Tszyu conceded a fight with Zerafa “could happen” in the future, he stressed his only focus this week will be on Mazoudier.

It comes as Zerafa suggested that, despite having already inked a new three-fight deal with promoters No Limit -- which he insists could see him fight both Nikita and Tim Tszyu – there is also a second option in play.

Zerafa says he and his team are already in discussions with IBF officials regarding a potential pathway to middleweight gold, where Alimkhanuly currently holds both the IBF and WBO middleweight crowns.

As recently as March last year, Zerafa was No.1 contender for that same IBF strap, but walked away from a guaranteed title shot against Esquiva Falcao to instead take the bigger fight against WBA king Lara.

Quizzed on if the Tszyu brothers were the only fights he was chasing, Zerafa replied: “Look, I’m not sure how much I can and can’t say, but I have teamed up with the IBF and, if things align, there is potentially a world title opportunity there for me.

“I was mandatory for that (middleweight) title initially.

“So I’ve reached out to them and said, while I fought for the WBA strap and fell short, and while I still remain highly ranked there, I’d like to get my foot back in the door with the IBF.

“And they do have a little plan there for me.”

So as for what Pretty Boy expects of the coming week?

“Oh, it’s going to be f***ing hectic,” he laughed. “By the time we get to the press conference, I think every other fighter up there on the stage hates me.

“So it’s going to be mad.

“But I love this s***.

“And the reason so many guys, fighters like Mazoudier try to start stuff with me, they know it gets them recognised.

“Which is exactly what the sport needs.

“I’m going out there to have some fun because you know, with me, there will be controversy, there will be comments thrown, and my skin, it’s tough on both the outside and inside.

“Plus I know whether you love me or hate me, you’ll watch me.”

Motivation can be a hard thing to come by in boxing, especially when coming off a loss.

The rebuilding phase can take time. Confidence-building fights often take place away from the bright lights and the big stage. Purses diminish. The bandwagon empties. All but the rusted-on fans disappear.

No one knows this better than Michael Zerafa, who is coming off a second-round knockout loss to WBA middleweight titleholder Erislandy Lara in March.

But the 32-year-old Zerafa (31-5, 19 KOs) has plenty to be fighting for when he takes on 41-year-old fellow Australian Tommy Browne (45-8-2, 19 KOs) at the ICC Sydney Theatre in Sydney, Australia, next Wednesday night in an eight-round bout on the Nikita Tszyu versus Koen Mazoudier undercard.

“My preparation has been great,” Zerafa told The Ring. “I’ve trained according to the fight. I’m not overtraining; I’m training real smart. I’ve got the mind firing, the motivation has kicked in. I feel good.

“Tommy Browne is a tough guy. Credit to him for taking the fight. I know he’s going to come to fight, and I don’t look past anybody. I’ve got a job to do next Wednesday on the 28th, and that’s all I’m focused on.”

Browne is a hardheaded and durable type who was once a featherweight contender two decades ago. The Sydneysider has won three bouts in a row against mediocre opponents with a combined record of 24-21 and doesn’t look to pose too many problems for Zerafa, but the Melburnian insists he is not looking past him.

“I never look for the knockout,” said Zerafa, who will be boxing at a catchweight of 157 pounds. “I just do my thing and try to set the traps. If I take them into deep waters, I’ll drown them. But if I see a knockout opportunity early, I’ll take it. 

“It’s nothing I look for. I’m just going there to make a bit of a statement.

“Look, I know he’s tough and he’s going to come to fight. I like that; it brings out the best in me. When a guy comes with the dog in him, I fire up.”

In the Lara fight, Zerafa was boxing well enough until the Cuban southpaw timed him with a left-hand bomb that detonated on his chin late in the second stanza. Zerafa hit the deck, and although he made it to his feet at the count of nine, he stumbled back into a neutral corner, forcing referee Allen Huggins to wave off the contest at the 2:59 mark.

“It was a hard pill to swallow,” Zerafa said of the loss that took place on the undercard of the Tim Tszyu-Sebastian Fundora fight. “To go out like that was tough. But that’s just the sport. You’ve got to take the wins when you win, and you’ve got to take the losses as if you won. You’ve got to have that same mentality. 

“You can’t just throw it all in. It’s still an achievement. You can’t just throw it all in and say, ‘I’m done’ and retire. Even though I lost and had a little sook in the back and whatnot, I didn’t look at the negatives. I said, ‘You know what, I fought Lara. I fought a guy who arguably beat Canelo Alvarez [and is] one of the best fighters to ever come out of Cuba, a future Hall of Famer. Look where I’m fighting; I’m at T-Mobile Arena.’ It’s an achievement. So as much as it was a loss, it’s a win. Not many people, if any, get the opportunity to do what I have done. It was amazing.”

Browne is more than just an opponent for Zerafa, who knows that an impressive win on a big domestic card like this will breathe new life into his career. Victory could lead him directly into a fight against rising junior middleweight Nikita Tszyu (9-0, 7 KOs) and potentially a long-overdue shot at ex-WBO titleholder Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) in the future.

“I can’t say too much,” said Zerafa when pressed on the details of his new three-fight deal with promoter No Limit. “I’m not too sure what I can and can’t say. There’s been back and forth, a few documents floating around. But there’s a Tszyu name on there – I don’t know if I can or can’t say – but look, there’s a three-fight plan and their names are on it, yes.” 

Tim Tszyu’s younger brother Nikita has been developed into a domestic-level star. With his all-action, march-forward style, the man nicknamed “The Butcher” is already headlining local pay-per-view shows. 

Mazoudier (12-3-1, 5 KOs) would be a good scalp for the 26-year-old southpaw to claim at this stage of his career, but Zerafa warns against comparisons.

“Nikita’s still inexperienced,” said Zerafa. “He’s still growing. He’s doing great things, but like I said, the Mazoudier fight is going to be a big test for him, because Mazoudier moves; he’s tough; he boxes well. And like you’ve mentioned, Nikita does get hit a lot.”

He added: “Out of his last six, I think [Nikita] has been hurt or dropped in four of them. I’m a different caliber to the guys he’s been fighting. The guys he’s been fighting have been tough and they walk forward, but I think I’m on a different level.

“Everyone is going off my last performance, but prior to that, me beating Jeff [Horn], me beating [Issac] Hardman, me beating all these other guys they put in front of me, it’s easily forgotten. 

“But, again, I’m focusing on Tommy Browne. I don’t really care about Nikita; he’s got his own problem in front of him.”

The Hardman mention is an interesting one. Two years ago, Hardman, who was 12-0 with 10 knockouts at the time, thought Zerafa would be the perfect stepping stone at that stage of his career. It was a massive miscalculation by the Queenslander and his team. Hardman was stopped in two rounds.

“Everyone says, ‘Nikita’s a big puncher, Nikita’s this and Nikita’s that.’ Horn was the same,” said Zerafa. “He walks forward, he was strong, he was tough, he was the guy who beat Manny Pacquiao. Then you’ve got guys like Hardman, who is strong, tough, likes to walk forward and was much bigger than me. It’s the same; it didn’t end very well for him. So let them think that, let them do what they’ve got to do. They’ve got their own problems to worry about. I just focus on what I’ve got to do. My career is just like driving. I just focus on what I’ve got to do; I don’t worry about the other drivers on the road.”

With the added incentive of a Tszyu fight being dangled in front of him, Zerafa says he is taking a more scientific approach to this camp.

“I’m actually training harder, because I’m doing everything smarter,” said Zerafa, who will have a new corner for this fight, consisting of head coach Josh Arnold, Stretton Boxing Club’s Glenn Rushton and Matt Partridge.

“When I was younger, I used to get up in the morning and do a 25km (15 mile) run, then try to spar and then try to run again. I used to cook my body. Now, I’ve got a proper plan in place, proper recovery, and a chef who is cooking all my meals now, according to how I train. Everything has just been on point and I’m feeling really good.

“I’m walking out after training sessions wanting to do more after putting in two-and-a-half hours in the gym. So I feel amazing. And come Wednesday night, I’m going to leave it all out there in the ring.”

An audition for a big fight on a nationally televised card. What more motivation could a boxer need?