On December 8 in Sheffield, England, former world champion Kell Brook, now 38-2 defeated Australian contender Michael Zerafa, now 25-3 in what was looked upon as a routine fight for the English boxer.
Brook won on the cards that night in Sheffield however boxing pundits labeled the victory as a sub par performance from Brook. While Brook got the better of the rounds, Zerafa was pleasingly competitive leaving fans asking was Zerafa much better than expected.
Throughout the fight Zerafa had some very good moments including shaking Brook up in the 8th, 9th and the 12th rounds and Zerafa also landed numerous other meaningful shots.
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Zerefa admits he started slow and didn’t let his hands go. “Not taking anything away from Kell, he won the fight, but I fought way below the standards set by the team."
When asked why he didn’t deliver on the list above Zerefa responded - “To be honest I gave Kell too much respect. I didn’t let my hands go and I didn’t go for the kill when I hurt him. He’s got a good chin, I’ll give him that! I landed plenty of flush shots. Soon as round 12 ended I apologised to my trainer and manager as I realised that I didn’t capitalise on this great opportunity.”
Zerefa's manager Brendan Bourke commented - “I don’t buy into the calls that Brook was rusty. Brook destroyed Sergey Rabchenko who is a good European level fighter in two rounds earlier this year.
"Brook came out very strong and fast against Zerefa and would have put many fighters away early that night. Coach Sam Labruna had a plan counter punching right hand and the left hook and those punches landed all night. Michael’s stock went up that’s for sure!”
