By Jake Donovan

Jeff Horn’s dream of a middleweight title fight gave way to a bloody nightmare.

The Battle of Bendigo began with a controversy over the use of ring card girls and ended with Michael Zerafa scoring a 9th round knockout in a stunning upset Saturday evening in Bendigo, Australia.

Zerafa scored knockdowns in rounds two and nine, the latter frame seeing Horn battered and eventually rescued from further punishment.

Unofficially at stake for Brisbane’s Horn was a crack at two-time secondary middleweight titlist Ryota Murata, with tentative plans in place to match the two later this year in Japan. Hopes for such a fight were nearly dashed in round two, when a right hand from Melbourne’s Zerafa sent Horn crashing to the canvas.

Horn beat the count but was battered throughout the frame following a coin-flip opening round, putting him in a deep hole early in the contest. The former welterweight titlist turned things around in a big way in round three, connecting with a right hand and left hook to stun Zerafa.

With joy came more pain, as a headbutt left Horn with a deep cut over his left eye. It’s a testament to the work of his corner that the wound was contained for as long as the bout continued, but his night would only get worse with each passing round.

Zerafa weathered a hailstorm to reclaim momentum in round four. Spirited two-way action ensued for the balance of the first half, but a rally by the veteran middleweight gatekeeper late in round proved to be a pivotal moment in the fight.

Horn soldiered on but was beginning to run on empty. The 31-year old was fighting above welterweight for just the second straight time, although facing a full-fledged middleweight was a far cry from the badly faded version of Anthony Mundine whom Horn iced in one round last November.

Round eight saw Horn continue to absorb right hand shots, eventually taking their toll. An onslaught of punches in round nine forced Horn to the canvas, beating the count but unsteady as he crashed into a corner while trying to steady himself long enough to allow the fight to continue.

Zerafa moved in to close the show, swarming Horn with power punches until the fight was mercifully halted at 2:24 of round nine.

It’s a career-defining win for Zerafa (27-3, 16KOs), who has now scored two straight knockouts since a hard-fought decision defeat to Kell Brook last December. He’s remained best-known for his career losses—to Brook as well as a knockout defeat to former middleweight titlist Peter Quillin nearly four years ago—but will now go down as the man who ruined plans for Horn’s bid to become a two-division titlist.

On the other end of the equation, the setback marks the second time this year Horn missed out on a bid to contend for a middleweight title. He was offered a shot at then-defending titlist Rob Brant earlier this year but passed on a reported $2 million payday due to wanting to spend time with his wife following the birth of their second child.

A makeup call came in the form of an offered crack at Murata, who reclaimed his title from Brant via 2nd round knockout in their rematch this past July. The sequel came with a rematch clause in place, which Brant exercised and was in the process of negotiating a deal that would allow Horn to jump the line in the event he won on Saturday.

That is now a moot point, as Horn (19-2-1, 13KOs) suffers his second loss in a span of three fights. He rose to prominence in controversial fashion, claiming a highly-questionable 12-round decision win over Manny Pacquiao to win a welterweight title in July 2017. Just one defense came of his reign before suffering a one-sided knockout loss to unbeaten pound-for-pound entrant Terence Crawford last June.

Horn’s aforementioned knockout win over Mundine last November put him back in the win column and presumably in line for a massive payday along with a middleweight title shot. Instead, it’s very much back to the drawing board—along with considering at what weight to continue to his career as it’s clear that a middleweight stay will only provide more nightmare finishes than dream assignments.

The bout aired live via pay-per-view through Australia Main Event.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox