Boxer cuts brother from corner team for punching opponents coach

Michael Zerafa has cut his brother from his corner team after he punched his opponent’s trainer in his last fight.

Zerafa defeated Tommy Browne on Wednesday via first-round retirement at the ICC Sydney Theatre.

Browne pulled out of the contest after suffering an injury to his arm which left him unable to continue.

The New South Wales boxer’s left bicep was unravelled halfway up his arm in the immediate aftermath of the contest.

And despite numerous attempts to show Zerafa the extent of his injury, the brash Aussie was having none of it, as he hurled insults at Browne from across the ring.

Taking exception to Zerafa’s response, Browne’s trainer, Tommy Mercuri, squared up to the 32-year-old before security broke them up.

As they did, Zerafa’s brother, Jason-Manuel Zerafa, stormed into the ring and threw a right hand at Mercuri.

The incident resulted in Zerafa’s team being escorted out of the venue and being moved from the fighter hotel.

No Limit Promotions, which staged the event, has since banned Zerafa’s brother from life from all of their shows.

Meanwhile, Zerafa has also taken drastic action.

“I’m disappointed with how it all panned out because I don’t condone anything that happened from either team,” Zerafa said.

“It was s***. My brother threw a punch and that’s not cool at all.  He’s been really apologetic since and I know that’s not in his character. And if he’s banned, he’s banned.

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“Even if that isn’t the case I won’t have him in my corner again. He’s burned some trust with me.

“As much as he only had my back – and I do appreciate him standing up for me – it wasn’t on.  He’s all good now though.”

Despite acknowledging the wrongdoing of his brother, Zerafa insists the incident could have been avoided entirely if Mercuri hadn’t acted the way he did.

“This whole thing, it’s not just one way,” Zerafa added

“There are two teams in this situation. And if Tommy didn’t do what he did, nor would my brother have done what he did.

“My brother, he was in defensive mode. He’d been in the corner, looked up and saw Tommy Mercuri coming towards me while I was pushing him away.

“He didn’t even realise the fight was off. He just saw Tommy Mercuri start walking towards me, swearing and flicking his hands in my face.

“I was trying to push him away but he kept walking forward, abusing me. And that’s when my brother entered the ring.

“I didn’t even see him at first. I had my back to him. It was so spur of the moment.

“He could only see my back, Tommy was coming at me pushing me and flicking his hands in my face so my brother thought ‘what the f*** is going on?’.

“At that point, there was no real security in the ring besides (No Limit promoter) Matt Rose so he went defensive, thinking Mercuri was throwing shots at me.

“But two wrongs don’t make a right.”

The police are continuing to investigate Jason-Manuel’s conduct at the time of writing.

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