Yet Zerafa (27-3) enters his bout against former world welterweight champion Jeff Horn (19-2-1) as the B-side in Brisbane on Wednesday.

But is that going to bother a heavy favourite with a point to prove?

"Not at all, not at all, everyone is against me. I love that," Zerafa said ahead of the match-up for the World Boxing Association Oceania and World Boxing Organisation Oriental middleweight straps.

"I'm in Brisbane, we could have had this anywhere, the rematch was not meant to be in Brisbane, but we came here because we know we can beat him.

"Once we do beat him, how much better is it going to be to say we beat him in my hometown and in his hometown? For us, it gives a bit more extra confidence.

"In the first fight I believed I could beat him and I did. Now I know I can hurt him, and he doesn't know that.

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"He is going on about that third round when he clipped me, what about the other eight that I punished him for? We watched that fight and I didn't fight the best.

"There are no excuses, I can fight way better. That's not my best performance ever, we've worked on that over the past 12 or 13 weeks.

"I'm confident now, I'm super fit, super strong, and he will feel that early."

Yet he is never too confident to listen to advice, which is why his teammate and cornerman Blake Caparello says the sky is the limit for the 27-year-old.

"He's very special. He has got a lot of natural ability, and with his boxing IQ, he sees so much as well. He is a learner, there is no ego with that kid in the gym," Caparello said.

"He'll listen to me, I'm a fighter as well, so we all feed off each other. He is better at some things than I am, I'm better at some things than he is, we all feed off each other."

Yet there were days when many wondered if this fight would even go ahead at all.

The tragic death of boxer Dwight Ritchie following a sparring session with Zerafa in November left many wondering if the latter could return to the ring so soon.

But on Wednesday night he does so with the blessing of Ritchie's family, and he will make his way to the ring with an Aboriginal flag in tow in memory of the late prize fighter.

Zerafa returns to the ring looking to end Horn's career. This time there will be no room for excuses about diet and simply feeling "off". This time, he promises, he will repeat the dose.

"You tell me, if he won the fight, would you have heard any of that? That he ate pizza, that he felt like crap?" Zerafa said.

"It's all rubbish, it's all talk. They're not going to sit on the table here and say Jeff had this and had that, he didn't spar the best.

"People that watch him know it, it's the same thing. He has had 22 fights and fought the same."