Michael Zerafa denied a report his co-main event bout on the Nikita Tszyu card is in doubt after weighing in for Wednesday night’s fight against local fighter Tommy Browne.
A foxsports.com.au report stated Zerafa had not yet been cleared by the NSW Combat Authority for the fight.
The report claims the NSW Combat Authority informed Zerafa that he had not been cleared to fight because the relevant medical testing had not been done, which includes blood tests.
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The misunderstanding appears to have come about because Zerafa’s last fight was in the US, where he was stopped by WBA champ Erislandy Lara in March.
Zerafa, who weighed in at 71.5kg for the catchweight bout against Browne on Tuesday, laughed off the claims.
Michael Zerafa will face Tommy Browne. James Alcock
“If I sneeze you guys will think I’ve got COVID. Main Event will do anything to run a story,” Zerafa said after the weigh-in.
“I’m all sweet I got my bloods done ages ago. I fought in Vegas, I got everything done, I’m ready to go.”
His trainer Glenn Rushton, who had infamous clashes with Zerafa during his days as Jeff Horn’s cornerman, confirmed there was a “misunderstanding.”
“As for as I understand everything is fine. He had a clearance there, I think there was just a misunderstanding between NSW and Victoria. As far as I know it’s in hand and we’re good to go,” he said.
“The clearance was there from Vegas and the athletic commission as well. I don’t see for any reason why this won’t go ahead.”
The report claimed NSW officials deemed Zerafa an international fighter and said he must be cleared before 10am on fight day.
It claims Zerafa had the bloodwork done on Monday but the results are yet to be filed.
The bout against Browne is one of a three-fight deal Zerafa has signed with No Limit, in what has been touted as a direct path to Nikita Tszyu, with older brother Tim rejecting any chance of facing his old foe.