Kevin Lerena Kevin Lerena
Johannesburg – South African cruiserweight Kevin Lerena is a man on a mission as he approaches his February 4 fight against Vikapita Meroro. The ultimate goal for Lerena is a crack at the World Cruiserweight title.
The mutual respect between boxer and trainer Peter Smith is clear for all to see. As in all his previous bouts, Lerena has a game plan. No doubt Smith will perfect it. It will be the task of Lerena to execute it. For now, their focus is clearly on Meroro, a tough opponent who is trying to get his career back on track.
Cutting your teeth as an amateur seems to be the right of passage for any professional boxer. Lerena has no amateur record to speak of. He cut his teeth in the paid ranks. His unmarked face belies the fact that he is a professional boxer. The only hint there is of him being a boxer is his incredible physique. Lerena clearly believes that his lack of an amateur career has not hampered his progress as a professional fighter. In many ways he feels that it has had its advantages.
“I have not taken any punishment”, he says. Lerena turned professional in 2011, his first fight being against Justice Silinga. A year later he had five fights under his belt, winning all of them on stoppages. At this stage of his career, Lerena felt that he was more of a brawler than a boxer. Trainer Smith began the transformation that would turn Lerena from a brawler into a scientific boxer and a household name in South Africa. In 2014, in his 12th fight, Lerena took on seasoned campaigner Johnny Muller. Muller took the fight by way of a points victory.
Kevin was gracious in defeat, applauding Muller after the result was announced. No sour grapes. No protests. The sign of a true sportsman and a gentleman of note. Lerena acknowledges that his first defeat as a professional was a bitter pill to swallow. It was not the result of the fight that troubled him.
He was beginning to question his own ability as a fighter. It was left to Smith to pick up the pieces and to rebuild Lerena’s confidence. It was back to the drawing board. Four months later Lerena was back in the ring against Igor Pylypenko from Denmark. The fight took place in Denmark and Lerena was still questioning his own ability.
He was coming off a loss and now he was fighting away from home for the first time in his career. In addition there was the added risk of perhaps losing by way of a hometown decision. Lerena took the fight on points. It was a defining moment in his career. Everything was back on track. His confidence was back. The hunger and will to succeed was back. In his next fight he took the South African cruiserweight title, defeating Deon Coetzee in a one-sided affair.
His next fight was the one he had been waiting for, a rematch against Johnny Muller. In front of a capacity crowd at Emperors Palace, Lerena started like a man possessed. Muller did not feature in the first three rounds of the fight. It looked like it was going to be one-way traffic. For reasons unknown, Lerena took his foot off the pedal and moved away from the agreed fight plan. Muller got stronger and by the end of round nine was ahead on most scorecards.
At the end of the round, Smith read Lerena the riot act. It was clear that he was allowing Muller to dictate the fight. From the start of round 10, Lerena looked like a new fighter. He began catching Muller with solid punches. They were telling blows. The tide was turning. Lerena took the fight by way of a TKO in round 10, adding the WBA Pan African Title to his already growing collection of belts.
He had avenged the only loss of his career. At this point, promoter Rodney Berman announced the Cruiserweight Super 4. Lerena took on Roberto Bolonti, winning on points. In the final Lerena was to meet Micki Nielsen, an unbeaten fighter who had despatched of Muller in an earlier fight. In a tough battle, Lerena earned a close but well-earned points victory over Nielsen, who later tested positive for the use of steroids in his fight against Muller. The boxing world sat up. Kevin Lerena had arrived. He is currently ranked by both the WBC and WBO.
Lerena aims to challenge for one of the titles within the next year. But right now his focus is clearly on his fight against Meroro at Emperors Palace, on the Golden Gloves bill dubbed Thunder and Lightning.