By Anthony Cocks
Michael Zerafa will finally get his chance to claim a Tszyu scalp when he takes on former WBO junior middleweight champion Tim’s younger brother Nikita on January 16 at a venue to be determined. The Tszyu-Zerafa feud dates back three years, when the latter pulled out of a scheduled bout against Tim, who went on to stop late replacement and natural junior welterweight Stevie Spark in three rounds. With Zerafa campaigning at middleweight and Nikita Tszyu at junior middleweight, the bout will be contested at a catchweight of 71.5kg (roughly 157.5lbs). No Limit is the promoter and the card will bebroadcast on Kayo and Foxtel Main Event as a PPV.
Zerafa’s record stands at 34-5 with 22 knockouts. Southpaw Tszyu is undefeated with a ledger of 11-0 with nine knockouts. Expect plenty more jawing between veteran Zerafa, 33, and young buck Tszyu, 27, in the lead-up to the bout.
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On Saturday night, super flyweight contender Andrew Moloney (28-4, 15 KOs) blew out the cobwebs with a fifth-round stoppage of Pawan Kumar (8-4, 6 KOs) in a super bantamweight contest scheduled for 10 rounds at Vodafone Arena in Suva, Fiji. It was a stay-busy fight for Moloney, who has not fought in almost a year, while he waits for his mandated IBF world title shot. The current owner of the IBF belt is Willibaldo Garcia (23-6-2, 13 KOs), who will defend against two-weight world champion Kenshiro Teraji (25-2, 16 KOs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 17.
Moloney’s countryman Francis Chua (9-4-1, 3 KOs) was not so lucky on the same card in Fiji. The southpaw was stopped by the talented Mikaele Ravalaca (7-1, 6 KOs) in the seventh round of their scheduled 10-round bout for the vacant regional WBA Oceania super lightweight title.
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Former minimumweight world title challenger Alex Winwood (4-1, 2 KOs) will return to the ring for the first time in 15 months when he takes on Thailand’s Wutthichai Montri (3-4, 2 KOs) over six rounds at the Mantra on View Hotel in Surfers Paradise, Queensland on November 29. It will be the first time the 28-year-old West Australian has seen action since his majority decision loss to WBA 105lb champion Knockout CP Freshmart (28-1, 11 KOs) of Thailand last year in his ambitious attempt to best Jeff Fenech’s Australian record of winning a world title in the fewest number of fights. Winwood competed at the Tokyo Olympics in the flyweight division. Jamie Myer will promote the Queensland card.
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An interesting card takes place this Friday night, local time, at the Hyatt Place Event Centre in Essendon Fields, Victoria that will be broadcast live on DAZN. In one of the more intriguing bouts on the show, Qamil Balla (16-2-1, 9 KOs) will take on Sergei Vorobev (21-3-2, 15 KOs) over eight heats at junior middleweight. Balla, 36, has mixed in good company as a pro. His only losses were to George Kambosos Jr at lightweight and Jin Sasaki at welterweight. Balla won his 154-pound debut against Adones Cabalquinto by fourth-round stoppage this past June.
The 31-year-old Vorobev, who was born in Russia but resides in Sydney, has been a longtime junior middleweight campaigner. He lost a split decision to former world title challenger Karen Chukhadzhian five years ago in his last bout at welterweight before moving up a division.
Other notable bouts on the card include junior middleweights Mounir Fathi (9-1, 9 KOs) and Andrew Hunt (10-0-1, 5 KOs) battling it out for a vacant regional title over 10, popular female super flyweights Mai Soliman (9-1, 5 KOs) and Jasmine Parr (8-1, 3 KOs) duking it out over 10 two-minute rounds, and Stephanie Lee Cutting (9-0, 5 KOs) clashing with Mariah Turner (11-1, 6 KOs) at featherweight over 10 two-minute rounds in another female bout. Heavy-hitting middleweight Lilo Telepe (6-0, 6 KOs) will also see action against Thailand’s Chaiwat Phuttaruksa (6-2, 5 KOs) in a six-round bout, with a brace of four-rounders also on the card. Promoter is Sam Labruna.
