Michael Zerafa has backed former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn to defeated rising superstar Tim Tszyu in a close fight.

The ten round junior middleweight contest was finalized a few days ago and is slated to take place in April, with several locations in Australia attempting to secure the contest.

Last year, Zerafa stopped Horn in their first meeting, which took place at middleweight. The December rematch saw Horn get revenge with two knockdowns to win a majority decision.

Zerafa believes there are numerous factors that will lead Horn to victory, with Tszyu's lack of experience hurting him in this bout.

"I think Horn's aggressiveness, his strength, his awkwardness - I believe he beats Tszyu," Zerafa told Sporting News. "Just on experience, lack of experience. Tszyu's growing, he's a great fighter, but I think Horn steals the win - just. Just.

"[Tszyu] hasn't earned that shot yet. You take away his last name - respect to him, and his dad is an absolute legend, I'm a big fan of his old man - but you take away his last name and he hasn't earned that position. Me and Horn, we've beaten world champions, we've fought around the world, we've fought world champions. He hasn't earned that spot yet."

Zerafa had been mentioned in the past as a potential opponent for Tszyu, but for whatever reason the contest never came off.

"He's had a four-fight plan that I was in, and now he doesn't want that fight," Zerafa said of Tszyu.

"He had Joel, Dwight, me and Horn, and he's gone Joel, Dwight, Brubaker, Horn. Like I said, the fight's there. Contact my team, let's make it happen. We've contacted you three times and you've come back with injuries. We've offered you a good purse and you haven't wanted it.

"We call him the magician at our gym, because every time a fight approaches he disappears. We want that fight and we believe we can beat him."