Michael Zerafa is not known well in boxing circles. When he was announced as Peter Quillin’s September 13th opponent on an afternoon card on PBC, many were up in arms. To add fuel to the fire, the only picture that showed up from the Australian boxer was one that resembled a male stripper. So who exactly is Michael Zerafa?
“I’m not a stripper, not a dancer; I’m a professional boxer,” Zerafa (17-1, 9 knockouts) told Ryan Songalia of RingTV.com. “
So no, he’s not a Chippendale’s dancer as the internet and social media would suggest.
“They saw a photo of myself and took it a little too far and thought I was a Chippendale’s dancer. That’s obviously not true. It’s obviously a photo that was put up and went viral. I’m just a local boy from Melbourne who dedicates his time three times a day training and pushing as hard as I can to make the most out of this opportunity.”
So the photo and being the underdog just adds more fuel to his fire to pull the upset over the huge favorite in Quillin
“It’s just more fuel for me, more adrenaline to get out there and upset the world,” stated the Aussie boxer. “It’s boxing; it’s a sport at the end of the day. Win, lose or draw, as long as I walk out there and give it my absolute all, that’s all you can do. We know we’ve got a hard task, but we’re very confident.”
Zerafa plans to pressure Quillin and feels his punch will be something Quillin will have issues with.
“Quillin doesn’t like pressure, and I consider myself to be a very big puncher in both hands, so I do think I have a little bit of an advantage there. Plus being 9 years younger than Quillin, I’ve got youth on my side.”
