‘Two Guns’ Lerena returns to eliminate opponent
Fourways boxer, Kevin ‘Two Guns’ Lerena will be hoping to defeat Belgian resident Ryad Merhy for a chance at the World Boxing Council (WBC) bridgerweight world title.
Fan favourite, Fourways boxer, Kevin ‘Two Guns’ Lerena returns to our shores and to the ring in May.
Lerena’s will face off against Ryad Merhy in the headline bout of the ‘The Eliminator’ Box and Dine Tournament on May 13. Lerena was the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) cruiserweight world champion from 2017 to 2021.
Both Lerena and Ivorian-born Merhy have similar records which guarantees that the fight will be a humdinger. The South African boxer has 30 professional fights under his belt with 28 wins. Belgiumbased Merhy, boasts 32 fights with one loss.
The 30-year-olds will face each other in an eliminator fight for the chance to challenge the winner of the World Boxing Council (WBC) bridgerweight world title. That bout takes place on April 22 between Alen Babic and Lukasz Bozanski.
The May 13 fight comes in the wake of Lerena’s move up to the heavyweight ranks.
The local fighter challenged Daniel Dubois for the WBA regular heavyweight title in December on a bill headlined by Tyson Fury and Derek Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Although he knocked Dubois down three times in the first round, Lerena suffered a third-round technical knockout defeat to his opponent. This put a dent in his aspirations in the heavyweight ranks.
Though disappointed, the Fourways boxer says he learnt a lot from the experience.
He added that he will come back better, stronger and is looking forward to making his mark in the bridgerweight division.
Rodney Berman, a division promoter, has high hopes for Lerena to become a world champion in the division. In particular, a WBC world champion.
South Africa has only produced two WBC world champions in its history. Sugar Boy Malinga won the supermiddleweight title twice between 1996 and 1998. The second is Dingaan ‘The Rose of Soweto’ Thobela who won the same title in 2000.
The focus is now on the Fourways fighter in the coming months to see if he will make history by becoming South Africa’s third WBC champion.
The event is also set to feature South African and African Boxing Union heavyweight champion, Keaton Gomes of Linden. He will be defending his title against former SA heavyweight champ, Joshua Pretorius of Richards Bay.
Details: Marie 061 444 5021; afriring@tiscali.co.za for bookings.
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