OPINION: It’s back to the drawing board for Kevin Lerena

After all the exhaustive hype surrounding the Kevin Lerena-Daniel Dubois fight on the Tyson Fury-Derek Chisora undercard in London on Saturday, it’s pretty much back to the drawing board for the South African heavyweight.

We can harp on for eternity that the popular Johannesburg southpaw was just “one or two punches away” from becoming a WBA regular world champion, but the fact remains, he should have put Dubois away as soon as he sensed blood.

Instead, the 25-year-old stone-fisted Briton, struggling with a knee injury which restricted his movement – and having been down three times in the first round – composed himself and turned the tables on Lerena to record an astonishing third-round technical knockout.

READ MORE: Kevin Lerena stopped in the third round by Daniel Dubois

Not only was Lerena floored for the first time in an 11-year career, but he is now acutely aware how important it is to put an opponent away when he is in control.

Instead of pushing his advantage after that eventful opening round, Lerena inexplicably resorted to probing and stalking Dubois, who was off-balance.

From a pair of victories over classic heavyweights Bogdan Dinu of Romania and Polish veteran Mariusz Wach on home turf, it become glaringly obvious on Saturday that the Dubois fight may perhaps have come a touch prematurely.

I don’t want to play “good cop-bad cop” here, but I have always said 30-year-old Lerena should have been exposed to tougher opponents as a cruiserweight already and with stronger match-making, even built up his following abroad.

Although he was constantly calling out the top cruiserweights during his reign as the IBO champion, he never truly dominated the division.

Where to now?

Lerena’s handlers are now facing a pretty big promotional quandary as they plot their charge’s route ahead.

Trainer Peter Smith has worked wonders with Lerena, who had no amateur pedigree, and he still remains very marketable.

But the question remains “Where to now?” Has the fledgling WBC bridgerweight class become an inviting option again?

Like any sport, boxing is a business, but to be the greatest, you have to take on all-comers.