Middleweight contender Michael Zerafa 30-4 (19) has revealed the names of three world class opponents he is chasing for his next fight.
The IBF number two and WBA number three is coming off a second-round knockout of previously undefeated Issac ‘The Headsplitter’ Hardman 12-1 (10) last month.
The 30-year-old Australian is keen to parlay that victory into a big fight on the world stage and he says his team has been is discussions with three major players at 160-pounds: former WBO super welterweight champion Jaime Munguia 39-0 (31) of Mexico, WBA and IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin 42-1-1 (37) of Kazakhstan and world-rated contender Esquiva Falcão 29-0 (20) of Brazil.
“If it was up to me I’d jump on a plane tonight and fight him,” Zerafa told Wide World of Sports. “I’m keen for the Munguia fight. I believe I can beat him, I’ve seen him a few times, he fought a fellow Aussie in Dennis Hogan (in 2019) and I thought Hogan won that fight.
“There’s a lot of things he does wrong that I think we can capitalise on. His defence isn’t the best, he relies on his power too much. He just tries to walk forward, he doesn’t have the best footwork. I’ve fought a lot of fighters like that and beaten them. They’re quite easy to beat. Respectfully, he’s a good fighter, a world class fighter, a former world champion, but he’s human, he’s beatable.”
Zerafa added that he has other fights on the table.
“We’ve got offers from everywhere… I’ve also got potential opponents with GGG and Falcão. We’re in a very good position, with three huge potential fights,” Zerafa said.
“There’s three good offers, so we’ll sit down now and work out which one’s the best.”
But Eddie Hearn, who promoted Mexican superstar and undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s recent loss to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, is pushing to make the trilogy bout between Alvarez and Golovkin.
If that comes to pass, Zerafa still has Munguia and Falcão in play.
“I’m a little bit biased because I just love the Gennadiy Golovkin trilogy,” Hearn said to The DAZN Boxing Show.
“Now I think it’s even more intriguing because he’s coming off the defeat. If he was to lose to Gennadiy Golovkin, where does he go? You’re talking about losing at 175, losing at 168. You’re no longer a world [champion]. Of course, he’s Canelo Alvarez. But still, back-to-back defeats like that.
“So all the pressure right now is actually heaped on Canelo Alvarez. You don’t know what defeat is going to do to a man like that. We know he suffered one years ago against Floyd Mayweather. He was a young man then. Can he bounce back? Is he affected by that? Is his confidence gone?
“But also, I would love to see the rematch [with Bivol]. I think if I was advising him or if he actually listened to what I thought. He asked me my opinion. But as I said, we don’t make the decisions.
“I would probably go GGG, Dmitry Bivol. That’s what I would probably do and we’d give Dmitry Bivol a big fight in September or October. Whether that’s [Joshua] Buatsi-[Craig] Richards winner, Callum Smith, [Gilberto] Ramirez. But the rematch is a mega-fight. The two biggest fights in boxing right now actually are Canelo against GGG and Canelo against Bivol rematch.”
