By Jake Donovan
Michael Zerafa knew all along what seemingly everyone else learned on fight night—that there was never a chance of his losing to Jeff Horn.
Their domestic clash resulted in what was deemed a major upset, as Zefara twice floored Horn en route to a 9th round stoppage Saturday evening in Bendigo, Australia. It served as a shocking outcome as Horn was tabbed to face two-time middleweight titlist Ryota Murata later this year had he prevailed.
What neither he nor most industry observers expected was what ultimately took place.
“We had a gameplan and we stuck to it,” Zerafa (27-3, 16KOs) stated during a post-fight press conference following the biggest win of his eight-plus year career. “Working on our strength and power, we knew he was shorter. We did a lot of research and we knew what needed to be done.
“I just listened and stayed relaxed. I called this result weeks ago. I said he’d fall and I did it.”
Zerafa set the tone in round two, flooring Horn (19-2-1, 13KOs) with a right hand shot and battering the former welterweight titlist throughout the frame. Horn stormed back strong in round three, briefly stunning his countryman but ending the frame with a cut over his left eye from a clash of heads.
By that point, Zerafa had his legs back under him and would eventually take over the fight.
“The third round he hurt me with an overhand right, I felt the power, “admitted Zerafa of the sequence. “I got on the bike and moved.”
By the time the second half of the contest rolled around, there wasn’t anything left to do but pound away until Horn would crash and fall. A knockdown midway through round nine left Horn to the point of no longer being able to steady himself. The fight was foolishly permitted to continue but stopped moments later from an ensuing volley of punches.
“I knew he was out of his reach, fighting a guy with my experience,” inssited Zerafa, who was previously best known for losses to former titlists Kell Brook and Peter Quillin. “I knew it wasn’t going to last.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox