Anthony Mundine’s son has confirmed his eagerness to eventually throw down against Australian boxing bad boy Michael Zerafa, saying he remains “pissed off” by the way ‘Pretty Boy’ celebrated after knocking his old man out of the sport.
Some five years after Zerafa gave Mundine what would be the final loss of his extremely colourful, and controversial, boxing career, the two popular Australian fighters are set to be reunited in unusual circumstances during Friday week’s stacked No Limit showcase in Brisbane.
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As revealed by Fox Sports Australia, Mundine’s undefeated son — hyped prospect Rahim ‘CJ’ Mundine — has been catapulted onto the Brisbane Entertainment Centre event, which is being topped by a blockbuster grudge between Zerafa and Nikita Tszyu.
CJ is now trained by his father, who will be in his corner on the night as Zerafa also looks to catapult himself into a bout with longtime arch rival Tim Tszyu, and by first finishing his undefeated younger brother.
Five years ago, it was the same Zerafa who needed less than a round to finish Mundine snr in what would also double as the last fight of a career all headlines, world titles, and bucketloads of controversy.
Unforgettably, the end occurred inside Bendigo Stadium, with Pretty Boy needing only a tick over two minutes to earn the finish and start celebrating.
None of which Mundine’s son has forgotten.
At the time of what would be Choc’s last fight, the former world champ wasn’t only 45 years old, or coming off consecutive defeats against Jeff Horn and John Wayne Parr, but also well removed from the man who had risen up to become the nation’s undisputed pay-per-view king.
And his son says the way Zerafa celebrated his victory that evening has stuck with him ever since.
Speaking at a Wednesday press event in Sydney to announce his addition to the No Limit card, CJ was asked at one point about his father’s career — both the highs and lows — when he recounted how “as the later losses began happening, it started to piss me off”.
“These guys like Zerafa, Jeff Horn,” CJ continued, “they were celebrating like they had won against a prime Mundine.
“That rubbed me the wrong way to be honest.”
So as for the undefeated Sydneysider now hoping to eventually build up to a point where he can return the favour to Zerafa himself?
“Maybe,” he grinned. “Who knows.
“As a kid, I always knew my dad was different.
“And as a fighter, the respect he got – my grandfather as well – that’s what attracted me to the sport.
“I remember seeing one of his ring walks and thinking ‘my dad really is the man’.
“And I aspire to that.
“I want to be one of the biggest names in this country. Eventually, branch out and do my thing on the world stage.
“But right now it’s all about racking up fights and getting experience.”
Elsewhere, Mundine Jnr also confirmed his interest in eventually throwing down with the son of his father’s most famous rival Danny Green, and said he would like to fight up to 12 times this year in both the professional and amateur ranks.
But as for talking with the same, err, gusto dad did?
“I have to earn it first,” continued Mundine, whose opponent for next week is yet to be announced.
“Right now, I can’t talk too much.
“I have to earn it.
“But when I do, then you can start turning it up.”
Reminded the old boy certainly came into boxing with his mouth already moving, CJ laughed: “We’re a bit different.
“But everyone will get to know me soon.
“I just need to earn the right to be myself and talk that s***.”
Pushed about him now going fulltime into the family business, the younger Mundine continued: “When I go out there I’m not just fighting for myself, I’m fighting for my father’s legacy, my grandfather’s legacy.
“And that makes me want to work hard and become great.”
World titles?
“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t dreaming of that,” he continued.
“This isn’t a sport you can play around in.
“People might think, ‘oh, he’s doing this for his dad, or for his grandfather’. But in this sport, you can’t get away with stuff like that.
“I’m putting everything into this and we’ll see what happens.”
CJ said that while he started out training with his grandfather, it was now dad doing most of the coaching work.
Sparred him?
“I have, yeah,” he grinned. “Not recently, but I went alright … [laughs] it was like sparring in the mirror.”
And as for what dad thinks about you wanting to reach greater heights than even he did?
“Dad’s very proud of his record – vocally,” he grinned.
“But he’s all for it.
“I’m not too sure how he felt when I first started, but he’s always backed me and wants me to go far … probably wants me to go further than him, like all fathers do.”
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Elsewhere, Mundine Jnr also revealed he plans to have as many as 12 fights in 2026 – spanning across both the professional ranks – as he looks to climb the domestic rankings as either a welterweight or super welterweight.
While CJ has previously campaigned as a middleweight, he said that had more to do with the fact he was also mixing boxing with a promising rugby league career, which required a bulkier physique.
However, with the Sydneysider now going fulltime into fighting, he said he plans to rack up as many wins as possible, while confirming the goal of one day fighting against Green’s young son Archie, who only recently began his amateur career.
“And that would be massive, huge,” CJ said of a showdown between the sons of two men who fought twice, split the wins, and whose 2006 epic remains the most watched pay-per-view in Australian fight history.
“But that’s down the line.
“I can’t really worry about that yet.
“But if everything aligns, it happens.
“And I’d love to do that fight, it would be crazy.
“Right now though I just want to get better every time I get in the ring.”
Asked if he planned to continue campaigning at middleweight, like his most recent win on the undercard of last July’s Paul Gallen versus Sonny Bill Williams card he said, early on, he would likely move down to super welterweight after having now dropped his rugby league bulk.
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