WHEN was asked about how close he was to competing for the WBA heavyweight title against Daniel Dubois this Saturday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Kevin Lerena laughed.
“It’s pretty surreal, isn’t it?”
OH that’s right.
Forget that the WBA title for best is a fake one, with the “real” champions among the big boys being Oleksandar Usyk and the man who is leading this weekend’s event against Derek Chisora, Tyson Fury. But the strange thing about this match is that a year ago, Lerena of South Africa had just announced that he was leaving the cruiser class to compete with the big boys. Two wins later, here he is.
That’s a lot to take in, but if he’s confused, you can’t hear it in his voice.
“I’m so grateful to be in this position and obviously we’ve worked so hard to get here and I just want to make the most of and make the most of my career,” he said. “I have maybe four or five years left, I’m 30 now, so four or five years from now, I want them to be the best I can imagine.”
A win over the Londoners would be a good start as he wants to join compatriots Gerrie Coetzee, Francois Botha and Corrie Sanders as heavyweight belt holders for his nation, and he’s proud not only to represent South Africa but to show that heavyweight standouts can be built at home, something he credits to veteran promoter Rodney Berman.
Lerena of Johannesburg said: “A lot of people migrate and travel abroad in search of more opportunities. “Unfortunately, if it doesn’t go abroad your way, nothing will happen to you, and with the strong promoters I have in South Africa, I can always stay busy and fight. Good fight with good names. Take, for example, my last two matches: Mariusz Wach is a household name and division janitor, and Bogdan Dinu. If I didn’t have those fights, I wouldn’t have this shot. Yes, I won those matches and I won them brilliantly, but if my promoter didn’t host those matches I wouldn’t have this chance. So I always have the idea to stay at home until I get the call. And we actually got a call from Frank Warren.”
Kevin Lerena vs Daniel Dubois on December 3 in the UK (Leigh Dawney/Queensberry Promotions)
The reason is probably a simple one. Dubois will receive a payday before the end of the year, and since he hopes to take down the former Usyk class cruiser king in 2023, going up against a southern puncher who was a former cruiser class is a no-brainer. ideal thing. So yes, Lerena, 6 foot-1 tall and 233 ¾ pounds in her final match against Wach in September, is the underdog to the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Dubois. Not that Lerena hesitated when approached with this golden opportunity.
“When they called me directly, they said, ‘Do you want to fight Daniel Dubois for the WBA world title.’ I said, ‘Yes, send me the contract.’”
Understandably, Lerena really believes she can win. In a boxing ring with heavyweights, anything is possible. But the South African impressed by stopping Dinu for four rounds and nearly knocking Wach over 12. And after avenging the only loss of his record 28-1 (14 KOs) against Johnny Muller in 2014 by stopping his opponent two years later, he was shown to be able to cope with adversity, something many remained skeptical of Dubois after his only loss to Joe Joyce in 2020. Lerena is not one of those skeptics.
“Honestly, Joe Joyce and I are very different fighters,” Lerena said. “And obviously, Daniel Dubois lost that match, but a man coming back from a loss is usually a lot stronger, so I don’t consider that. My benchmark is not Joe Joyce’s fight; my benchmark was the man in front of me and what he looked like in his last battle and in his last battle [against Trevor Bryan] he succeeded and he looked really good, so I had to beat a really good opponent who I know is very strong, it’s no secret, but in the end the skill is stuff wins in skirmishes and we have a game plan and we know what we need to do to win.
If Lerena gets over his discomfort, his whole world will change overnight. I asked him if he was ready for what happens after December 3 if he goes home with the championship belt in his hand luggage.
“I can tell you what I’m ready for,” he said. “I am ready to experience boxing at the highest level and whatever comes with boxing at the highest level. I’ve worked really hard throughout my career and now things are starting to unfold, and whatever happens after that is just part of the package; that’s part of boxing. So I need to embrace it and appreciate it.
This is where he became a big fish in a small pond in South Africa. If Lerena were to play in the UK or the US, he probably wouldn’t be followed by all the major newspapers and media as he is at home. And after testing positive for the banned substance Clomiphene in November 2018, he was firmly in the sights of attacks from all angles. Finally cleared of VADA violations by the IBO because he mistakenly took a female fertility pill that was actually prescribed for his wife, Gina, how Lerena found life on the other side of the limelight and as he gets closer to the biggest fighting thing of his career, he shouldn’t be a fawn in front of the headlights, even with 70,000 headlights shining straight at him.
“What I can say is that I am very nervous for the occasion,” admits Lerena. “It’s a big occasion, but nerves are your biggest ally if you use them yourself. I had everything to achieve. He has a lot of pressure because I came for what he has. So I have worries that I’m on the right track, and that 70,000 people will be screaming for him and mocking me, but it’s just me and Daniel Dubois that are at the center of the fight. It was two warriors colliding. I’m not backing down and I’m sure he won’t either, so it’s going to make for a great fight.”
