Anthony Mundine vs Michael Zerafa

Townsville will host the All-Stars Boxing Footy Rivals fight night with a mixture of current and former NRL stars entering the boxing ring.

Out of the 12 NRL stars fighting, only three have a handful of fights under their belt (Justin Hodges, Todd Carney and Junior Paulo).

Paul Gallen, Sonny Bill Williams and Anthony Mundine are some of the big names that have had great success transitioning to boxing. In the UFC, Tai Tuivasa (Sydney Roosters under-20s) has made a name for himself and UFC featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski played rugby league most of his life before moving to MMA.

With more NRL players making a transition to boxing for celebrities fights, which players could actually make a career in a combat sport?

Josh Addo-Carr: Boxing (super middleweight)
Josh Addo-Carr already has boxing in his blood with his late grandfather, Wally Carr, being a former light-heavyweight champion, middleweight champion and super-middleweight champion of Australia. Josh Addo-Carr is an extremely fast winger and light on his feet which makes him an ideal candidate for a successful transition to boxing.

Addin Fonua-Blake: Boxing (heavyweight)
Addin Fonua-Blake is a powerful front-rower and has great footwork for a big man. There was a video circulating of him on the pads and it was crazy the amount of power his punches produced. I would love to see him transition to boxing and take on someone like Paul Gallen.

Josh Aloiai: Boxing (heavyweight)
Josh Aloiai already has huge support behind him for making a move to boxing and has one win to his name in amateur boxing. His father was also a national jiu-jitsu champion of New Zealand. At 25 years of age, don’t be surprised to see him make a move to boxing in the future.

Cameron Smith: Wrestling/BJJ (lightweight)
Cameron Smith has worked with the Storm wrestling coach for many years and has perfected every technique in the book. Maybe he makes a strong transition to BJJ in another universe.

Who else would you add to this list?

Anthony Mundine could face Michael Zerafa in Summer 2021 in Australia.

The fight would be scheduled for 12 rounds in the Super Welterweight division, which means the weight limit would be 154 pounds (11 stone or 69.8 KG).

Anthony Mundine would step into the ring with a record of 48 wins and 9 loses, 28 of those wins coming by the way of knock out.

Michael Zerafa would make his way to the ring with a record of 27 wins and 4 loses, with 16 of those wins by knock out.

The stats suggest Zerafa would have a slight advantage in power over Mundine, with a 59% knock out percentage over Mundine’s 58%.

Anthony Mundine is the older man by 17 years, at 45 years old.

Zerafa has 2-inch reach advantage.

Both Anthony Mundine & Michael Zerafa fight out of an orthodox stance.

In terms of recent activity, Michael Zerafa has been fighting more than Anthony Mundine.

Anthony Mundine last fought 2 years 1 month and 15 days ago, while Michael Zerafa’s last outing was 1 year and 27 days ago.

Mundine’s last 5 fights have come over a period of 3 years and 19 days, meaning he has been fighting on average every 9 months and 5 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 34 rounds, meaning that they have lasted 6.8 rounds on average.

Zerafa’s last 5 fights have come over a period of 1 year 6 months and 17 days, meaning he has been fighting on average every 4 months and 21 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 44 rounds, meaning that they have lasted 8.8 rounds on average.

How to watch Mundine-Zerafa fight on TV

The only way to watch Mundine-Zerafa fight is to purchase it as a pay-per-view through Main Event, and then watch it either via Foxtel or on Optus TV featuing Foxtel.

When Michael Zerafa was 14, he wrote to a 31-year-old Anthony Mundine, promising the league star turned boxer he would beat him one day and end his career.

Mundine was at the height of his popularity at the time, with the former world champion setting numerous PPV records in Australia on the way to earning a reported $30 million inside the ring. Yet that didn’t stop a teenage Zerafa from sending a message to the star on social media.

“He still remembers it,” Zerafa tells Wide World of Sports.

Being 17 years Mundine’s junior, Zerafa should never have realistically had the chance to turn a childhood dream into reality. Age alone should have been a barrier along with other fights that fell through for the Victorian boxer in 2020.

Now he gets the chance to officially end the controversial Australian sporting legend’s career for a second time at Bendigo Stadium on March 13 for the World Boxing Association Oceania Middle Title.

Mundine vowed to “sail into the sunset” after his concerning defeat to Kickboxing great John Wayne Parr in 2019. It was his second loss in as many years after the 45-year-old was embarrassed by Jeff Horn in just 96 seconds in 2018. Both losses threaten to taint the lasting memory most boxing fans have of the star after a highly successful domestic career. How another defeat will impact his legacy, only time will tell.

Mundine’s lost six of his past 10 fights bringing his overall record to 48-10-0. While plenty of questions should be raised about Mundine’s age and concerns for his health, Zerafa couldn’t knock back the chance to fight the former Dragons’ five-eighth, especially with a bigger purse on offer which the Victorian fighter claims is double what he was offered to fight Tim Tszyu.