Lerena hard at work for his ‘must-win’ fight against undefeated Nielsen

IT WILL TAKE more brains than brawn for Kevin Lerena to come out victorious when he faces Micki Nielsen in the upcoming Super Four Cruiserweight final in October at Emperors Palace.

Failure to do so might see the South African 24-year-old boxer fall short of realising his dream of making the top 10 of the Cruiserweight world rankings.

And there’s also R1.5 million to fight for, with the winner taking the lion’s share of the purse.

Ahead of this much anticipated fight, the ‘KO Kid’, as Lerena is affectionately known, said that this one fight he could not afford to lose.

“I’ve come a long way in the four years of my professional boxing career,” Lerena said.

“Fifteen wins and one loss in 16 fights is no easy feat for any boxer in the world to reach, and I’m proud of that achievement. I’m No 1 in the country (Cruiserweight champion) and I’ll be fighting for a top 10 position in the coming fight (against Nielsen). This is one fight I cannot afford to lose. I’m looking forward to it.

“There were times when I started out, where people would talk down on me saying: ‘I can’t do it’. That alone propelled me to prove them wrong in every fight.

“Their lack of belief pushed me to work even harder. And look at me now, four years later I’m still standing.”

Lerena admits the last few months have been the hardest he has ever worked in training. The boxer had to work more on his movements, his defence and knowing when and where to throw punches in the ring, leading up to his fight against Nielsen.

The Cruiserweight champion believes those areas of his game that he has been working on, will see him hand the Danish boxer his first ever defeat, he has won all 22 of his fights.

“This is the hardest I’ve ever worked in training preparing for a fight in my entire career,” Lerena admits. “My work ethic is right up there and I’m feeling positive ahead of this fight. I’m expecting a tough one. I know that he’s going to bring it but I’m also determined to push for a win.

“Winning this fight would see me achieving my goal of finally being in the top 10 of the world rankings. That’s my ultimate goal. I’m hungry for this.

“Is he undefeated?” Lerena asked rhetorically. “Well, yes. Does he have any weaknesses? Yes. Am I going to tell you his weaknesses? Well, no because that falls under our game plan.

“Sure, he’s power puncher and can produce knockouts, each time he’s presented with half a chance, but I’m smarter. That’s what sets me apart.”