A wild fracas broke out at the convention of the WBA boxing organisation as the son of Australian Michael Zerafa’s agent allegedly spat on the face of renowned boxing manager Sampson Lewkowitz.
Fox Sports understands the dispute stemmed from discussions between Zerafa’s agent Elvis Grant and Lewkowitz, manager of WBA champion Erislandy Lara, over a potential world title fight.
The son of Elvis Grant, a famous boxing glove manufacturer as well as Zerafa’s agent, then allegedly spat in the face of 72-year-old Lewkowitz.
Zerafa can be seen in footage of the heated exchange that followed the alleged spitting, as legendary former boxer and Golden Boy promotions executive Bernard Hopkins intervened.
Hopkins, a former multiple world champion, had been mid-interview when he said “hold on” before running towards the fracas, pushing away Zerafa when the Australian tried to get in the way.
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“Call the police, he spit in my face,” Lewkowitz told Hopkins.
Hopkins then engaged in a shouting match with a member of Grant’s entourage, before confronting Grant himself after saying: “Where’d that punk-ass Elvis go?”
“He spit in Sampson’s face,” Hopkins told WBA chief Gilberto Jesus Mendoza. “I told him you don’t do that here!”
Hopkins then appeared to offer to fight Grant (senior), saying: “Motherf***er let’s me and you, like men, go in the bathroom by ourselves”.
“Your son spit in his face.”
Grant replied, nodding: “Yeah, that’s right,” with the pair separated before.
Zerafa stunned the boxing world early this year when he walked away from an IBF middleweight world title fight with Brazil’s Esquiva Falcao.
He had been the WBA’s number one ranked contender and the mandatory challenger to fight Lara for the world title, but took a reported six-figure payout so Lara could take on Danny Garcia.
That fight had been slated for August 5, but has still not been locked in despite multiple date and venue changes – and could fall through with Garcia now considering dropping a weight class.
Zerafa spoke to Fox Sports last week, saying “enough is enough” when it comes to delays over his mandated title bout with Lara.
Discussions over the future of the division were taking place at the WBA convention in Orlando, Florida, but led to a heated fracas.
The son of Elvis Grant, who manages Zerafa, then allegedly spat on the face of 72-year-old Lewkowitz.
Lewkowitz has filed battery charges with the Orlando police over the incident, BoxingScene reports, while Lewkowitz also took to social media to re-tweet footage of the incident as well as dozens of posts criticising the opposing parties.