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Craigieburn boxer Michael Zerafa fights for Pan Pacific belt

CRAIGIEBURN boxer Michael Zerafa will fight for the IBF Pan Pacific middleweight crown in late April.

Boxer Michael Zerafa
Boxer Michael Zerafa

HARD work and dedication have seen Craigieburn’s Michael Zerafa rise through the ranks of the best middleweight boxers as he chases the world title.

The current Victorian champion and Australia’s No.3, Zerafa will fight for the IBF Pan Pacific middleweight crown at Flemington on April 22.

He hopes it will be a stepping stone on his way to international recognition in his sport.

Standing between the 24-year-old and the career milestone will be Japan’s Yosuke Kirima, an opponent Zerafa said was “tough as”.

“Getting the opportunity to fight this guy from Japan … will set me up for America and the big fighters overseas,” he said.

Zerafa has defended his Victorian title “four or five times”, last reinstating his dominance of the state’s middleweight division two years ago.

The eight-year pro fighter has won two regional titles in Asia and is sitting third in Australia’s middleweight rankings.

“Hard work and dedication (has helped me) beat better and stronger opponents and climb up the ranks,” Zerafa said.

“I train twice to three times a day, starting out with a big morning cardio session. I’ll come home and eat and I’ll go again with skills, sparring and boxing training.”

It’s a gruelling daily routine that is followed by a less taxing, but equally important, process.

“At night I have a recovery session — a sauna, spa — I’ll do that six or seven days a week,” Zerafa said.

While it’s a career path that Hollywood has explored in plenty of feature films, it might not be as glamorous as it seems on the big screen, Zerafa said.

“There’s not much lifestyle to it … It’s just boxing, you’ve got to live it, breathe it and love it,” he said.

“You’ve got to be dedicated and you can lose touch with a lot of friends and family very easily just because you’re always travelling around Australia.”

Zerafa works with trainer Christian Ennor, as well as “big name” past and present boxers including the likes of Danny Green and Sam Soliman.

It’s a career path he hasn’t regretted since choosing between two sports as a teenager.

“I used to play footy and was trying to juggle both and basically I had to choose one or the other. I went with boxing because I was better at it,” Zerafa said.

And he was pretty much hooked straight away after his first amateur fight as a 15-year-old.

“I just loved the feeling of it, the adrenaline rush, and I got addicted pretty quickly,” he said.

“I stuck at it and I told my trainer I wanted to turn pro and now I’m climbing the world rankings. I believed I could be the best and it’s slowly happening.”

Michael Zerafa Smith is a Hume Leader senior sports star nominee. To nominate a sports star, presented by Sportsmart, click HERE.

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north-west/craigieburn-boxer-michael-zerafa-fights-for-pan-pacific-belt/news-story/94beae8a5f70d0803dbd67f21697417c