The World Boxing Association has ordered a bout between Erislandy Lara (29–3–3, 17 KOs), the WBA’s middleweight champion, and mandatory challenger Michael Zerafa (31-4, 19 KOs).
The sanctioning organization has already sent the communication to the parties of both fighters on 13th March and there is a negotiation period of 30 days, which starts from 14th March 14, meaning the deadline for negotiation is the 13th of April.
In the event that they do not reach an agreement within the established time or one of the parties refuses to sign the contract, the WBA may send the fight to auction under the regulations of the entity.
Erislandy Lara make his first WBA defense as the full champion
Lara, represented by TGB Promotion on behalf of Premier Boxing Champions, made his last title defense as the WBA’s “Regular” champion back on 28th May 2022 against Gary O’Sullivan via 8th round TKO at the Barclays Center in New York City.
The Cuban-American boxer was later elevated to full champion status after Gennady Golovkin, who was WBA’s “Super” champion at 160 at that time, vacated the belt and did not do the fight that had been ordered against Lara.
Hailing from Australia, Michael Zerafa is a former Commonwealth super-welterweight champion and has won the WBA Oceania, WBO Oriental, and IBF Asia Oceania titles at middleweight.
His last outing in the squared circle dates back to the 23rd of November last year when “Pretty Boy” clinched a 10-round unanimous decision win over Danilo Creati at the Aware Super Theatre in Sydney.
The Aussie was previously ordered to be one half of the contest towards the vacant IBF belt, taking on Esquiva Falcao of Brazil, as earlier reported by BoxingScene.com.
