Brother of Australian boxer Michael Zerafa learns fate in court after punching trainer

The brother of Australian boxer Michael Zerafa has been convicted of an illegal fight in a boxing ring after he assumed his brother was being assaulted.

Jason-Manuel Zerafa, 26, was arrested on August 29 and charged with one count of common assault after a fight at the Sydney International Convention Centre the previous night.

He appeared with his lawyer Upol Amin at Downing Centre Local Court for the first time on Monday, where he immediately pleaded guilty.

“A boxing ring is usually a place of lawful violence, but this is a situation where we have unlawful violence in the boxing ring,” barrister Chris Longley told magistrate.

His brother Michael Zerafa scored a technical knockout of Tommy Browne, but the victory was overshadowed when Jason-Manuel Zerafa threw a punch at Browne’s 60-year-old trainer Tommy Mercuri after the two corners exchanged words.

Browne suffered a bicep injury in the first round of the fight and did not come out of his corner for the second round – a move that appeared to anger his opponent.

Mr Longley did not sentence Jason-Manuel Zerafa on Monday but imposed a six-month conditional discharge order for the assault.

He said that even though blood was thicker than water, it did not allow the younger brother to act as he did with an “element of stupidity”.

He also noted that an apology had been sent to Mr Mercuri through a letter filed with the court.

Earlier on Monday, Mr Amin said his client jumped over the ropes after seeing Mr Mercuri “confront” Michael Zerafa and assumed he would throw a punch.

“He saw his brother, Mr. Michael Zerafa, hands down and an experienced fighter without gloves square up,” the lawyer said.

Words were exchanged between the 26-year-old and the coach during the spontaneous incident before it turned violent.

Mr Amin said his client, who worked as a security guard and had studied nursing, was a man of good character who had no criminal record anywhere.

He also suffered from spending six hours in custody after his arrest, missing his flight back to Victoria where he lives, and being subjected to negative social media posts after media reported the assault, Mr Amin told the court.

Mr Mercuri suffered minor injuries that did not require treatment, police said after the attack.

The police prosecutor unsuccessfully argued for a conviction, saying that because the fight was broadcast around the world and seen by countless people, it had brought boxing into disrepute.

“There is a certain irony there, I have to say,” Mr Longley replied.

The sergeant responded that there was a community expectation that people in a boxer’s corner, who were seen by the public as being there as coaches, should not enter the ring and start fights themselves.

Promoter No Limit Boxing has confirmed that it has banned Jason-Manuel Zerafa for life over the “unacceptable” incident.

The fight was the co-main event of a card dominated by Nikita Tszyu’s ninth-round TKO victory over Koen Mazoudier.

Michael Zerafa fought for the WBA middleweight title in March but was stopped by Cuban Erislandy Lara.