Australian boxing legend Jeff Fenech branded it “unacceptable” and even Michael Zerafa admitted his performance against Danilo Creati was “pretty s****y”.
But it was enough for Zerafa, who took a unanimous decision win as he now sets his sights on Gennady Golovkin, claiming to have reached a verbal agreement to face the Kazakh for his two middleweight world titles.
Kent though cast doubt over whether Golovkin would entertain a fight against Zerafa after his latest effort, declaring it is “going to cost him tens of thousands of dollars”.
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Even Jeff Horn conceded it “definitely wasn’t impressive” from Zerafa, doubting that Golovkin would see much benefit in agreeing to the fight with the Australian.
Zerafa said he “definitely overlooked” Creati post-fight, having revealed earlier in the day that he still had not watched any film of his Italian opponent.
“He’s tougher than he looks,” Zerafa said.
“I took this fight on four weeks’ notice. I needed the rounds – he’s one tough dude.
“I just thought my ability, I’ve been all around the world, but he’s just awkward. He’s tricky. No excuses … he was just a lot tougher than I thought.”
Zerafa added that he has “big things on the horizon”, with that fight with Golovkin expected to be the next step in the Australian’s rise. Kent though is not so sure.
“We started the show tonight talking about the fact that Paul Gallen has had so many fighters on the rise who have basically just jumped on his wagon and taken that ride with him,” Kent said on Main Event’s coverage of the fight.
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“Tim Tsyzu is the perfect example. A lot of people who would not normally have been awoken to Tim Tszyu got to see him by watching Paul Gallen’s fights. Tim Tszyu did the right thing and used it as a vehicle to go sell himself so that when he was no longer on a Paul Gallen promotion, people still wanted to watch him fight.
“Michael Zerafa, who has had a troubled history in this sport, whose two high points in his career have been both fights with Jeff [Horn], tonight he had an opportunity to sit there and say, ‘OK, you people don’t know who I am. The next time you see my name, come and watch me’ and he blew that opportunity tonight.
“That was a snorefest. That was a really difficult fight to watch.”
Kent went on to claim that people he knows who are “lifetime boxing people” were walking out of the fight early and he said that did not bode well for the potential Golovkin fight.
“I’ll tell you what the problem for Zerafa will be for the potential Gennady Golovkin fight,” Kent said.
“It’s not whether Golovkin will want the fight, it’s whether Golovkin will think he can make money out of fighting him. That’s going to be the issue.
“Golovkin is going to see nothing in that performance that is going to make him go, ‘I better be careful of this guy’. What he is going to see is, ‘How do I sell this fight?’.
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“You’ve got to go out and generate the interest so people pay the money to watch you. Creati is a great fighter. He was undefeated and he’s got a lot of skill but he’s essentially a super-welterweight. He’s going to go back to super-welterweight we believe in the future.
“This is the No.1 ranked middleweight in the world and he couldn’t hurt him. He’s got a lot of thinking to do.”
While understanding of the fact Zerafa had taken the fight on short notice, Kent still believed the decision not to study Creati’s film hinted at a sense of “arrogance” in his preparation.
“He didn’t even know what he was going to walk into,” Kent said.
“That is going to cost him tens of thousands of dollars.”
Zerafa though should have no problems marketing himself as Australian boxing’s greatest villain, calling out arch-rival Tim Tszyu who is preparing for a world title shot against Jermell Charlo.
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“If Tim Tszyu wants to get knocked out, like I said, my preparation will be a lot better,” he said, boos ringing out.
“You can boo all you want, that’s fine. But when he gets knocked out, youse tell me what he’s going to do. He’s going to come back to Australia and what? He’s got nothing.
“Every one knows the truth – if I run from Tim Tszyu why am I here? Why is No Limit giving me the opportunity? Get your facts right, don’t believe the media.
“And all the haters, thank you. Thank you for burning that f***ing fire.”
