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Confidence is something Kevin “Two Guns” Lerena has had since day 1 when the former racing jockey made his professional debut as a boxer in 2011 despite having no amateur experience, which would have helped him gauge his potential.
Fifteen years later, Lerena puts his WBC bridgerweight world title on the line in Belgium, which is the challenger’s backyard, and the champion is not perturbed that Ryad Merhy will enjoy home-ground advantage.
Lerena is brimming with confidence in repeating what he did to his mandatory challenger Merhy on May 23 2023 at Emperors Palace.
Lerena defeated the Ivorian-born, Belgian-French former WBA regular cruiserweight champion via a deserved unanimous points decision after 12 rounds to win the WBC silver bridgerweight title.
“I am knocking out Ryad,” said Lerena after touching down in Belgium on Sunday. “I am feeling good here in Belgium, and we had a good day. We landed here about 11am [on Sunday], took a nice day to relax. The vibe and the mood in the camp are good.
“I know what I have to do on Saturday night. To all my Lerena fans back at home, know that I am going to do this business, and I am going to do it well.”
Since defeating Merhy, Lerena has had four fights, winning two of them. That includes retaining the WBC bridgerweight belt via a third stoppage of Serhiy Radchenko at SunBet Arena, Pretoria, on May 1. That was Lerena’s 15th short-route victory from 31 wins against four losses.
Credit must go to Peter Smith, the former heavyweight professional boxer, who has done a sterling job with Lerena. Together they won and defended successfully the IBO cruiserweight title six times before the boxer relinquished that belt to move up to the heavyweight division, where he won the WBA and IBO intercontinental titles.
On the other hand, Merhy has had only two fights, losing his last to Jared Anderson in the US on April 13 2024. He has 32 wins, 26 by the short route, against three losses.
Their second meeting will be broadcast live by SuperSport on DStv channel 209.
Sowetan
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