Unbeaten junior middleweight Tim Tszyu could be looking for a new opponent, as Michael Zerafa has been hospitalized with a yet to be disclosed rib-stomach injury, according to WA Today.
The paper reports that Zerafa was scheduled to fly from Melbourne to Sydney on Wednesday for a series of promotional commitments, but missed the flight due to the unknown ailment.
The fight is scheduled for July at Newcastle - and the venue is already sold it.
Zerafa’s trainer and co-manager, Sam Labruna, said the fight will be off if his boxer is not back in the gym by early next week.
“He’s still not right,” Labruna said to WA Today. “I’ve spoken to his partner and he’s in a lot of pain, he’s been throwing up and everything. He’s not right.
“I’ll say one thing; to put it bluntly, if Mick is not right, there’s no fight. Simple as that. The fight is the last thing on my mind at the moment. We won’t be going through the camp if Michael is not right, the fight won’t be on.
“The pain started behind the ribs and kept getting worse. For me, it’s about Mick’s health first. I won’t be putting Mick in underdone.”
The problem, says Labruna, is unrelated to anything from a sparring session of training camp.
“It’s a worry,” said Tszyu’s promoter George Rose of No Limit management.
“The fighters’ health is the main thing, but it’s a nightmare [for the promotion] if it is serious.
“The fact the boxers push their bodies to the absolute limit, I understand and respect that. I know things like this can happen, but I don’t want it to happen for this fight. There’s nobody else around who can compete with Tim and we’re not going to chuck him in against a sub-optimal replacement. It’s something we want to get on top of.”
