Michael Zerafa (born 25 March 1992) is an Australian professional boxer. He held the Commonwealth light-middleweight title in 2018.
Boxing career Early in his career, he was the Victorian super-welterweight champion.
Zerafa vs. Magomedov On 24 October 2014, he lost to Arif Magomedov in his first fight outside Australia when challenging for the WBO Youth and Asia Pacific middleweight titles.
Zerafa vs. Quillin On 12 September 2015, he lost via knockout to Peter Quillin in his second fight outside Australia. The impact of the knockout caused him to leave the arena on a stretcher.
Zerafa vs. Kirima On 22 April 2016, Zerafa defeated Yosuke Kirima for the IBF Pan Pacific middleweight title.
Zerafa vs. Harper Zerafa faced Adam Harper for the vacant Commonwealth super-welterweight title at the Melbourne Pavilion in Flemington on 16 March 2018, winning by unanimous decision.
Zerafa vs. Brook On 5 November 2018, it was announced Zerafa would face Kell Brook at the Sheffield Arena on 8 December 2018, in a WBA super-welterweight title eliminator. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Zerafa vs. Sherrington On 12 April 2019, Zerafa returned home to Australia and defeated Les Sherrington via knockout.
Zerafa vs. Horn He then defeated Jeff Horn for the WBA Oceania middleweight title in Bendigo on 31 August 2019, this time winning via technical knockout. Horn was ranked #3 by the WBA, #5 by the WBO and #14 by the IBF at middleweight at the time.
Zerafa vs. Ritchie On 9 November 2019, Zerafa was sparring with Dwight Ritchie when Ritchie collapsed in between rounds after a hit to the chest. Ritchie could not be revived and later died.
Zerafa vs. Hardman On 20 April 2022, Zerafa faced Isaac Hardman in an IBF title eliminator at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre where Zerafa would knockout Hardman in the second round.
World title opportunity Zerafa was originally slated to fight Esquiva Falcão for the vacant IBF middleweight world title. However, Zerafa opted to pursue a World Boxing Association title fight against Erislandy Lara, so Falcão is now slated to fight Vincenzo Gualtieri for the IBF title.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes3832–5 Nikita Tszyu3 (10), 16 Jan 202637Win32–5Tommy Browne1 (8), 28 Aug 202436Loss31–5Erislandy LaraTKO2 (12), 30 Mar 202435Win31–4Danilo CreatiUD1023 Nov 202234Win30–4Issac HardmanTKO2 (12), 20 Apr 202233Win29–4Siliveni NawaiTKO4 (10), 20 Dec 202132Win28–4Anthony MundineTKO1 (10), 13 Mar 202131Loss27–4Jeff Horn1018 Dec 201930Win27–3Jeff HornTKO9 (10), 31 Aug 201929Win26–3Les SherringtonKO2 (8), 12 Apr 201928Loss25–3Kell BrookUD128 Dec 201827Win25–2José Agustín JulioTKO3 (10), 31 Aug 201826Win24–2Wade RyanUD101 Jun 201825Win23–2Adam HarperUD1216 Mar 201824Win22–2Tomás Andrés ReynosoKO6 (8), 17 Jun 201723Win21–2Renato OliveiraTKO3 (10), 10 Dec 201622Win20–2István ZellerTKO5 (10), 13 Aug 201621Win19–2Yosuke KirimaUD1222 Apr 201620Win18–2Gustavo Alberto SánchezKO4 (8)6 Dec 201519Loss17–2Peter QuillinKO5 (12), 12 Sep 201518Win17–1Yuttana WongdaTKO4 (6), 27 Mar 201517Win16–1Bruno CarvalhoTKO5 (6), 5 Dec 201416Loss15–1Arif MagomedovUD1024 Oct 201415Win15–0Joe ReaUD827 Jun 201414Win14–0Luke SharpUD827 Feb 201413Win13–0Athit PraditphonTKO8 (8)13 Dec 201312Win12–0Amnat DaengphayapKO2 (8)8 Nov 201311Win11–0Anton OlarteUD107 Jun 201310Win10–0Richard Kenneth CarrTKO3 (6), 19 Apr 20139Win9–0Adrian CampbellUD1021 Feb 20138Win8–0David GalvinUD1016 Nov 20127Win7–0Ariel OmongosTKO2 (8), 29 Jun 20126Win6–0Faisal Fayad811 Nov 20115Win5–0Xingxin YangTKO4 (6), 26 Aug 20114Win4–0Aswin CabuyUD422 Jul 20113Win3–0Jean Claude1 (4), 8 Jul 20112Win2–0David Gall 41 Apr 20111Win1–0Peter Makrypodis1 (4), 18 Mar 2011
Personal life His mother is from Australia and his father is from Malta.
References
External links
Michael Zerafa - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live