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“Most disgraceful thing I’ve seen”: Is Zerafa done after Tszyu bout?
SEN • January 19th, 2026 11:57 am
News Corp boxing writer Peter Badel has labelled the end to the Nikita Tszyu v Michael Zerafa bout as the most disgraceful thing he’s seen in the sport.
Badel, who was at the bout on Friday in Brisbane, described Zerafa’s antics as farcical as he was ruled out of the fight at the end of the second round due to a doctor’s stoppage.
The stoppage came after an accidental head clash in the second round opened a cut above Zerafa’s left eye. He was then asked if he could see out of it, and when he said he couldn’t, the fight was deemed a no-contest.
While Zerafa gave the doctor that statement, he quickly changed his tune in the post-fight interview, stating he had blurry vision but wasn’t able to fight on. Adding that he was unsure why he was being booed, as it wasn’t his fault, putting the stoppage down purely to the doctor’s call.
“I've covered boxing for some time now, and it's probably the most or one of the most disgraceful things I've seen in boxing,” Badel told SENQ Breakfast.
“It really did ruin what was shaping up to be a wonderful card, and there were some great undercard performances.
“It was built up for so many years, this sort of family feud that started with Michael and Tim Tszyu, then for it to explode with that second-round stoppage where it was ruled a no-contest… it was just farcical scenes.
“I've been in a lot of sporting venues, but rarely have I felt that level of animosity and vitriol from the crowd. They were filthy, and there was a really bad vibe in the room, leaving the venue, which was disappointing, because it started out as a great night.”
For Badel, the issue with the stoppage wasn’t that Zerafa was injured, it was the lie that he clearly told after being caught on vision telling the doctor, ‘I can’t see’, which was always going to lead to the fight being called off.
With the antics leaving a bad taste for everyone, Badel thinks that Zerafa’s career as a top Aussie boxer might be done.
“Under the rules, the doctor and the referee did everything right. The minute a fighter says I can't see, that's it. You can't proceed with a bout if a fighter says they can't see,” Badel said.
“The problem here is the lie that Michael Zerafa told. If he stuck to his story and said, guys, I can't see, I told the doctor that, then we wouldn't be having this drama today.
“We'd all be a bit disappointed, but we'd say, ‘Zerafa says he can't see, he's stuck to his story, how are we to know? We're not in his shoes’. The lie is the problem here.
“This is where Michael Zerafa now has major reputational damage. I don't see how he recovers from it. I don't think any network will touch him.
“I know No Limit, Australia's boxing promoters, won't touch him again, so there's talk of a rematch, but I'd be very surprised, guys, if that happens.
“I believe he’s done. He may want to fight, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he fights on, but I just don’t know what platform he’ll find himself on.”
Former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn, who fought Zerafa twice, thinks that the 33-year-old simply might not have wanted to be in the ring anymore.
That is the exact same feeling he had in his final fight which came against Nikita’s brother, Tim Tszyu.
“I feel like he might be going through something in his career that I probably felt like I went through in the Tim Tszyu fight, where you feel like you don't want to really be in there anymore,” Horn told SEN Breakfast.
“But we don't know how bad his eye was and what it felt like, so, it's hard to condemn the guy completely just from that.
“I didn't know leading into the fight, against Tim which was my last fight … I felt like he wanted it more than me.
“I felt like I wasn't in there anymore to win, and I was like, this guy wants it more than me.
“I realised that I don't have that fire burning anymore, so what’s the point of me going in there?”
