A late – and bloody – contender for Fight of the Year unfolded on Wednesday night in Brisbane, Australia.
In a widely anticipated middleweight rematch, Jeff Horn avenged his loss to Michael Zerafa in August, outgrinding his domestic rival and scoring two knockdowns in the pivotal ninth round en route to a majority decision in front of a sold-out crowd at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
One judge had it a draw at 94-94, while the two others had it 98-90 and 97-92 in favor of the Queenslander Horn, who came into the fight wearing gloves with Zerafa’s name printed on the thumb. Horn, best known for his upset decision over Manny Pacquiao at welterweight in 2017, clearly meant business, and the fight played out as such.
The tone was set from the opening bell, with Horn (20-2-1, 13 KOs) storming out of his corner with gusto. The two traded all fight long, but it was Horn who had the upper hand in the exchanges. Horn consistently closed the distance and made sure to bring his roughhouse style to bear on Zerafa, who never seemed to get a handle on Horn this time aorund.
In the first fight, Zerafa (27-4, 16 KOs) knocked out Horn in the ninth round and it appeared early in the same round in this match that he might get the same result. Aware that he was well behind on the cards, Zerafa came out with a blinding onslaught of punches that had Horn bloodied and nearly out on this feet.
But Horn would receive an assist at that point, when referee John Cauci called a timeout to examine Horn’s brutal cut and he had time to recover. With a minute left in the round, Horn roared back, dropping Zerafa with a right hand. Moments later, he followed up with another right that had Zerafa down a second time.
Zerafa survived but this was Horn’s night.
Said Zerafa afterward: “There were no excuses.”