{"id":90202,"date":"2021-06-24T07:25:33","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T07:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=90202"},"modified":"2021-06-24T07:57:15","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T07:57:15","slug":"criminal-act-threatening-tszyu-zerafa-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=90202","title":{"rendered":"'Criminal' act threatening Tszyu-Zerafa fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was the decision that scuttled Michael Zerafa's career<\/a> just as he'd earned his shot on the world stage, and his trainer, Sam Labruna, still insists referee John Cauchi was "criminal" for what he did.<\/p>\n

It was December 2019 when Zerafa and Jeff Horn were once again locked in a bloody slugfest after the former welterweight champion triggered a rematch clause following his shock loss in Bendigo just four-months earlier.<\/p>\n

With Horn out-on-his-feet in the ninth-round, a second straight victory over the high profile Queenslander seemed imminent for Zerafa, and with it an undisputed claim atop Australia's boxing throne.<\/p>\n

But his charge was halted, in Zerafa's view for the wrong reasons, when referee Cauchi interjected, calling for the doctor to examine a cut on Horn, thus allowing a crucial 30 seconds of respite which he used to gather himself and conjure a miracle knockdown.<\/p>\n

\"Jeff<\/p>\n

Horn would eventually move away with a majority decision win, but it's a moment that has so bitterly stuck with Zerafa and his camp that they are now threatening to walk from his upcoming blockbuster against Tim Tszyu<\/a> if Cauchi's anywhere near the July 7 clash.<\/p>\n

"I'll tell you how serious we are," Labruna told Wide World of Sports. "We brought it up at the start of the negotiations for the fight. That was nine weeks ago.<\/p>\n

"I said to Matt Rose and his brother, 'It's no use us going in any further to talk contracts or anything, we need to sort out officials.' Because honestly, we will not take the fight. We've got other avenues too.<\/p>\n

"We just want neutral officials and no Cauchi. That's it.<\/p>\n

\"Boxers<\/p>\n

"Now he's gotten himself into more controversy in the Gallen fight. This guy just doesn't stop."<\/p>\n

Not only did Zerafa miss out on a million-dollar pay-day that night, but the fight also ruined a chance for him to face off against WBA middleweight champion Ryota Murata<\/a> because Horn's camp were unwilling to wait until early 2020 for their rematch.<\/p>\n

The controversial loss then set Zerafa's career off course, forcing him to claw his way back onto the scene after two years in the wilderness. Now he has a second shot at the throne.<\/p>\n

"We had an offer on the table to go fight Murata. It was a legitimate offer, because it was made for Horn and that got swapped over to us because we won the fight," Labruna said.<\/p>\n

\"Zerafa<\/p>\n

"Then after that ninth-round we lost the bout, and honestly, what Cauchi did was criminal. The sport I love so much, we've been in this a long time, and it just really really hurt.<\/p>\n

"In Australia, we got away with it, but if this had happened in America there would have been major outrage over that. The doctor was also wrong. The doctor cleaned his eye, that's not allowed."<\/p>\n

Labruna is so determined to avoid another controversial decision that he insists Zerafa will walk if neutral officials are not selected, goading No Limit Boxing to call his bluff.<\/p>\n

"If Rose is underestimating us, we've got other people calling," LaBruna said.<\/p>\n

\"Tszyu's<\/p>\n

"If he thinks we're just going to come and take the fight (regardless of officials) then he's dreaming because we're not coming."<\/p>\n

Zerafa faces off with Tszyu on Wednesday July 7 in Newcastle.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was the decision that scuttled Michael Zerafa's career just as he'd earned his shot on the world stage, and his trainer, Sam Labruna, still […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90202"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90204,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90202\/revisions\/90204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}