Australian veteran Anthony Mundine 48-10 (28) says he expects to retire after his fight against Michael ‘Pretty Boy’ Zerafa 27-4 (16) at Bendigo Stadium in Bendigo, Australia on Saturday night.
Speaking at a media conference in Melbourne on Thursday, he revealed the fight will “more than likely be my last fight, win, lose or draw”.
The 45-year-old Sydneysider is almost 20 years removed from his first world title shot when he travelled to Germany to face master boxer Sven Ottke for the IBF super middleweight title. Mundine surprised Ottke early with his speed, jab and defence but faded late to be knocked out in the 10th.
Victory over hard-hitting American Antwun Echols for the WBA super middleweight championship would follow nine fights later and in 2006 he scored his flagship win over domestic rival Danny Green.
Those fights seem a lifetime ago now. Mundine has won just four of his last 10 bouts. In his last outing he lost on points to legendary Muay Thai fighter John Wayne Parr.
But Mundine believes the burden is on Zerafa to perform ahead of their fight while conceding it will likely be his last time in the prize ring.
“All the pressure is on him,” Mundine said. “I have had a tremendous career… I am just ready to turn up. He’s the one that has to deliver.
“I am a 7-1 underdog but I am coming to fight. I have got nothing to prove, but I have always said I want to go out on a winning note.”
For Zerafa there is much more on the line. The 28-year-old Melburnian has been agitating for a fight against Australia’s hottest commodity Tim Tszyu 17-0 (13) who will take on two-time world title challenger Dennis ‘Hurricane’ Hogan 28-3-1 (7) at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre in Newcastle, Australia on March 31.
The 26-year-old Tszyu had a stellar 2020, knocking out former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn in eight rounds in Townsville in August and scoring a highlight-reel first-round knockout of world-rated Kiwi Bowyn Morgan 21-2 (11) in the Sydney suburb of Paramatta in December.
Zerafa will be fighting Mundine in the same Bendigo ring where he knocked out Horn in nine rounds in their first fight in August 2019 before losing a controversial decision in Brisbane four months later.
“I am super switched on, I am super strong,” Zerafa said. “It’s 10 rounds, I am in no rush. I have been training twice, three times a day, seven days a week, I have been in sparring camps… against bigger boys.
“I want Tim Tszyu. I am in that reach… I want to be involved in the biggest fights. Everyone forgets I knocked out Jeff Horn first. Horn didn’t want a trilogy, Tszyu didn’t want to fight, had excuses.
“For me, I want bigger and better. That’s why this fight means so much to me.”
