Kevin Lerena (left) emphasises the significance of his upcoming rematch against Ryad Merhy on May 30 in Belgium as the most crucial fight of his career, following a disappointing loss to Lawrence Okolie and a return to the Bridgerweight division. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL
Image: Michael Sherman/IOL
Kevin Lerena is not one to mince his words, and as he prepares to fight Ryad Merhy again on May 30 in Belgium, the South African Bridgerweight champion is brutally honest about where he stands — and what’s at stake.
“Every fight is important,” Lerena said. “Like my last fight, I had a complete banana peel performance. It was not me in there. It was terrible.”
The fight the 33-year-old Lerena was alluding to was his defeat to Lawrence Okolie at Wembley Stadium in London in July in front of 90,000 people for the WBC Silver Heavyweight title.
For that clash, Lerena piled on 23 kilograms from his previous fight to weigh in at 118kg as he stepped up to the heavier division.
Next month, Lerena will be back in the Bridgerweight division where he will be closer to the 95kgs he was when he beat Serhiy Radchenko by TKO in three rounds in May last year.
But that loss to Okolie still hurts for Lerena. A win would have vaulted him into the upper echelon of the heavyweight division, potentially lining up blockbuster opportunities against the likes of Oleksandr Usyk, Agit Kabayel, Anthony Joshua, or even Tyson Fury — a fighter Lerena insists he’d never face out of friendship.
Now, he has to readjust his sights to Merhy.
“So, you can only focus on the fight you have and Ryad Merhy right now is more important than Daniel Dubois, more important than any world title defence I’ve ever had because I cannot afford a banana peel,” said Lerena on Tuesday in Sandton ahead of the Knockout Chaos 1 boxing event his company Aquila Boxing Promotions is hosting this weekend.
“I need to win, and win well.”
Despite the dangerous nature of the sport, which Lerena has openly spoken about, fighters also have to be ready at short notice to get back in the ring.
“In boxing, you can be forgotten, out in the cold for 11 months. Month 12, you get a call for the biggest fight of your life,” he said.
“[It’s about] staying ready. I’m always in the gym. Whether I’m running, pushing a set, or hitting a bag, you’ll never need to ask me to get fit — I’m a professional.”
Despite the fact that he’s no youngster in a physically brutal sport like boxing, Lerena says he has plenty of fights left.
“I’d like to go until I’m 40 years old,” he said. “There’s not a lot of mileage on my clock. I’m still okay.”
There’s also a maturity in how he measures success.
“I cannot buy a car with a belt. I cannot be happy at home with a belt,” Lerena said.
“I can only be happy with myself, my beautiful family, my wife, and my kids. But when it’s all said and done, it’s whatever I achieve in this sport that’s given me a better chance for myself and a chance to change others’ lives.”