Doing it for Davey: Disrespected Tommy Browne hits out at ‘weak’ Michael Zerafa

Tommy Browne has hit out at Michael Zerafa’s performance against world champion Erislandy Lara, while promising to cause the upset of the year in honour of his late brother, Davey.

Tommy Browne has his brother’s name tattooed on his chest. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

A fired up Tommy Browne has promised to cause the biggest upset of the year in honour of his late brother, Davey, while hitting out at Michael Zerafa’s performance against world champion Erislandy Lara.

Browne is a 45-8-2 mainstay of the Australian boxing scene and takes on Zerafa in the co-main event of Wednesday’s pay-per-view showdown between Nikita Tszyu and Koen Mazoudier.

Zerafa is coming off a second round middleweight world title defeat to Lara in March, and Browne says he feels disrespected that ‘The Pretty Boy’ is already attempting to line up a fight with Tszyu later in the year.

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The disrespect has only added to the fire in his belly as he fights in honour of younger brother Davey, who tragically passed away in 2015 after injuries sustained in a fight in Ingleburn.

Davey was a father of two with a 22-1-1 record when he fell to a 12th round knockout against Carlo Magali nine years ago.

He never regained consciousness after the knockout and sadly passed away three days later at Liverpool Hospital when his life support was turned off.

A heartbroken Tommy, who fought earlier the same night and was in Davey’s corner, says he now fights to honour his little bro.

“I carry him on my shoulder and in my heart,” Tommy told this masthead on Sunday.

“I’m doing it for both of us now.

Davey (pictured) and Tommy Browne grew up fighting together. Picture: Supplied

Davey tragically died after a fight in 2015. Picture: Supplied

“He was a fighter and he was taken too early, but I hope he’s up there looking down and is proud of what I’m doing.

“We took on the sport together from a young age – our whole life was boxing.

“We’d go to training together, and fight on the same cards.

“I hope he sends me a little bit of that extra fitness he had. And that heart.

“He was a great fighter, and this win’s gonna be for him.”

Tommy says Davey will be right there with him on Wednesday when he tries to cause the biggest upset of the night against 32-year-old Zerafa.

Tommy is furious that Michael Zerafa’s team is overlooking him. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

It’s a fight Tommy is extra motivated for after much of the build-up has focused on Zerafa lining up a fight with Nikita Tszyu.

“They’ve overlooked this fight and they’re looking at Nikita,” Browne said.

“But he’s got Tommy Browne in front of him, and I’m going to spoil all their plans.

“It’s given me more motivation.

“It’s a shame because of what my family has done in the sport over the years.”

Zerafa kicked off fight week on Sunday by telling No Limit: “What’s he done in this sport? Nothing. He’ll see Wednesday night.

“There’s two ways this goes: him face first, or him on his back.”

Browne hit back at those comments on Sunday morning.

“They talk about, ‘what fighters have I fought and what have I done in the sport’ but I’ve had 55 professional fights and 22 of those have been for titles,” he told this masthead.

“I’ve fought six world champions and I’ve been in two world title fights.

Zerafa (L) was stopped in the second round by Erislandy Lara in March. Picture: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

“That alone is enough to get respect, but these are people that don’t know shit about boxing.

“If you do your homework and know what I’ve achieved, then you’ll understand.”

Browne says Zerafa’s world title defeat to Lara in March tells you everything you need know about his opponent on Wednesday.

“He can say he got in there with the best middleweight in the world, and he did, but that’s all he did – he got in there,” Browne said. “He didn’t fight him.

“He got dropped in the second round, he had a chance to get up and continue to fight, but he didn’t want to be in there.

“He showed that. He looked at the referee, shook his head and didn’t want to be there.

“That’s a sign of weakness.

“So, I just need to focus on what I’ve gotta do, and if the best version of Tommy Browne comes out, I win.”