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Australian Michael ‘Pretty Boy’ Zerafa 30-4 (18) has put himself in the box seat to challenge for the IBF middleweight title with a dominant second-round stoppage of Issac ‘The Headsplitter’ Hardman 12-1 (10) at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre in Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday night.
The bout was an IBF title eliminator with Zerafa ranked number 10 and Hardman ranked number eight.
The 30-year-old Zerafa used his skills and experience to thoroughly outbox Brisbane’s Hardman, 25, walking him on to well-timed shots.
The first frame was a clear one for Zerafa and in the second round he caught Hardman with a left hook to the head that sent him to the canvas. Hardman beat the count but was clearly buzzed and Zerafa finished him off with a flurry of blows that forced the referee to stop the contest at the 1:27 mark.
“I knew, with my experience, he was making mistakes in the first round and he landed a nice shot but I stayed composed,” Zerafa said. “I clipped him with that left hook and I knew he was gone.”
Former MMA fighter Hardman took the loss on the chin.
“He got me plain and simple,” Hardman said. “Mick got me and that’s boxing — you win some and lose some, you win well and I’m going to lose well.
“There was a lot of beef and at the end of the day he got in here and punched my head in and I lost.”
Zerafa copped a lot of backlash when he withdrew from a fight against rising star Tim Tszyu 21-0 (15) just days before their scheduled bout in Newcastle in July last year citing concerns about Covid-19 protocols.
Junior middleweight Tszyu would go on to stop late replacement Stevie Spark 14-2 (13) who is a natural junior welterweight.
Zerafa said the negativity directed at him only fueled his desire to win.
“To all the haters, thank you, thank you,” said Zerafa, who was the underdog according to the bookmakers going into the bout. “I did this for you. I know you all doubted me and I wanted to come out here and show the world.
“I’m bringing a world title back to Melbourne. I’ve got a world title shot next and what’s Timmy doing?”
Zerafa has mixed in better company than Hardman, sharing the ring with Kell Brook, Jeff Horn, Anthony Mundine and Peter Quillin. That experience helped to get him over the line.
“I knew it was going to happen with my experience and my skills,” he told AAP. “Credit to Issac because he’s a warrior but I backed my ability. Skills pay the bills.”
On the same card Cherneka ‘Sugar Neekz’ Johnson 14-1 (6) claimed the vacant IBF super bantamweight title by hard fought split decision against Mexican Melissa Esquivel 12-3-1 (4).
The scores were 96-95 and 97-93 for Johnson and 96-94 for Esquivel.
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