Promoters left in the dark over Michael Zerafa's hospitalisation; may consider other opponent

Brendan Bradford

Promoters left in the dark over Michael Zerafa's hospitalisation; may consider other opponent image

No Limit Boxing CEO George Rose says he's been left in the dark about Michael Zerafa's condition after the Melbourne-based fighter was hospitalised earlier this week. 

News broke on Wednesday morning that Zerafa - who is scheduled to fight Tim Tszyu in a blockbuster on July 7 in Newcastle - had been admitted to hospital.

Rose has only had "conflicting messages" out of Zerafa's camp, with reports of anything from a rib or stomach injury, to food poisoning. 

He says if he doesn't receive any updates soon, he'll have no other option but to search for a replacement opponent for the 18-0 Tszyu. 

“I’ve been asking everyone the same question as we genuinely don’t have an update on the situation," Rose said on Thursday. 

“We just want to make sure Michael is okay and then find out what is actually the issue."

Zerafa was scheduled to fly to Sydney on Wednesday morning for a series of promotional commitments ahead of the fight.

His camp said he was unable to fly, and the shoot has been pushed back two weeks.

"I was only told yesterday morning that he had to go to hospital, which is a promoter's worst nightmare," Rose said. 

"He missed the promotional shoot day with Main Event, which is fine as we can reschedule, but we’ve heard nothing since.

“The fight is still going ahead on July 7 until we hear otherwise."

A fight years in the making, Rose believes Tszyu-Zerafa is still on for July, but will soon be forced into making contingency plans unless he hears otherwise. 

“Fight fans and the Australian public have wanted this fight for a long time, so I just hope we get clarity soon and it’s good news, otherwise we will have to just move forward," he said. 

"We have had plenty of calls and emails from everyone already willing to step in, but again, I genuinely hope that we won’t need to go down that route."

In Zerafa's absence, Tszyu carried out his media obligations on Wednesday. 

"We don't get distracted by anything. It's business as usual until we get told otherwise - that's how we do business," Tszyu's manager, Glenn Jennings told Sporting News

"It'll be disappointing for everbody, especially the fans if the fight is off, but we're just staying positive. If it's a different outcome, we'll talk about it then.

"But for Tim, it's business as usual, no shortcuts, no distractions.

"Tim's back training now. He'll just keep on doing what he does every day. He just doesn't get distracted. I could tell him that someone's just robbed his house and he'd just say 'I'm going to the gym. I'll talk to you about it later.'"

 

Brendan Bradford