No half measures for highly rated Lerena

While boxing tournaments around the country have been decked by a combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and other factors, Saturday night’s ‘December Demolition’ tournament at Emperors Palace is a go.

The five-fight card, presented by Golden Gloves Promotions, will be staged behind closed doors at the gaming resort east of Johannesburg.

After a lengthy layoff due to the coronavirus pandemic, fight fans will get the opportunity to see popular IBO cruiserweight champion Kevin Lerena (25-1-12) back in the ring in what has been termed a “keep busy” fight against American Patrick Ferguson (17-2-13), slated for 10 rounds.

But Lerena and his management have been loathe in the build-up to play down this assignment, as the man they call “Two Guns” has big-fight options on his radar against other top dogs in his division.

Not only is he highly ranked in his own cruiserweight division, where he is not shy to admit he has occasional battles with the scale, but Lerena also has options in the new bridgerweight class introduced recently by the WBC.

In his two most recent title defences, the supremely conditioned southpaw, under the tutelage of Peter Smith, has barely been tested, with a third-round technical knockout victory over Swiss-based Albanian Sefer Seferi on home turf and a sixth-round stoppage of Firat Arslan in Germany in February.

In another potentially eye-catching fight on the card, which will be streamed live on one of the world’s leading digital subscription services, UFC Fight Pass in the United States, veteran former light-heavyweight champion Johnny “The Hurricane” Muller (21-9-2 – 14) takes on unbeaten Akani “Prime” Phuzi (11-0-5) with the fledgling WBA Pan-African cruiserweight title on offer, as well as Lebo Mashitoa in wait for the winner in a final match-up.  

Some of the Golden Gloves rising stars will also be on display, including Sebastiaan Rothmann’s welterweight prospect Jabulani Makhense (10-0-5), who defends his WBA Pan-African strap against challenger Mordochee Katembo (130-3-1) from the DRC.

In another potential Christmas cracker, Roarke “Razor” Knapp (10-1-1-8) meets unbeaten Simon Dladla (6-0-5) for the IBO youth junior-middleweight (super-welterweight) strap.