Lerena marching on

TOP notch boxer from the Smith’s Gymnasium, Kevin Lerena, has booked his ticket to the next defence after successfully retaining his IBO Cruiserweight title against Dmytro Kucher.

In front of a sell-out crowd on March 3 at Pandemonium at the Palace boxing tournament at Emperors Palace hosted by Golden Gloves Promotion, Lerena managed to disperse the Ukranian, Kucher and made his maiden defence of the world title.

He will now take on Roman Golovashchenko in Azerbaijan in April.

The bulky boxer was tested to the full by Kucher throughout their 12 round encounter. Kucher jabbed Lerena’s face from round one until the end, but unfortunately for him, the South African had the power in his pocket to outscore the challenger.

The scorecard read 119/109, 119/109, 117/111 in favour of Lerena.

There was no doubt about the outcome of the Thulani Mbenge vs Diego Cruz of Mexico fight as the South African notched up the vacant WBC International Welterweight belt over 12 rounds. The judges scored the fight 118/110, 118/110, 119/109 in favour of Mbenge.

DeeJay Kriel made sure that Xolisa Magusha went home empty handed when he kept his WBC International Minimumweight title intact. The two boxers gave it their all but in the end, it was the champion that showed maturity in successfully defending his title.

The judges scored the fight 118/112, 118/110 and 116/113 in his favour.

Rowan Campbell showed magnificent skills when he ousted Masixole Botile, who retired due to a hand injury, to extend his winning record. He won by TKO in the second round, 59 seconds in.

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