Lerena aims to mix it with the heavies
UNDER Armour athlete Kevin Lerena will be hoping to become just the fourth South African boxer to win the International Boxing Federation heavyweight division championship, and plans to use his upcoming fight tonight in Johannesburg against Mariusz Wach to prove he can cut it at the highest level of boxing.
Although more than 130 South African boxers have held world championship titles, Lerena is attempting to join the elite company of Gerrie Coetzee, Corrie Sanders, Mike Bernardo and Francois Botha as heavyweight champions of the world.
The fight against the 42-year-old Wach should prove to be a stepping stone for Lerena who has his sights set on a world throne.
Lerena has held the IBO Cruiserweight title seven times, and is ranked as the fifth best active cruiserweight boxer by The Ring magazine.
“I’m South Africa’s warrior and as a top 10 heavyweight contender I will prove my worth in the ring,” said Lerena.
“I fear no man – I’m not intimidated at all. It’s just a fight and on the night skills win.”
Tipping the scales at 106kgs and standing at a sturdy 1.85m, Lerena regards himself as a clever fighter, and with his top conditioning he believes he will be too strong for Wach.
“I pick my punches as I move around the ring because skills pay the bills,” he says. “To top this, mental preparedness goes hand-in-hand to achieve exponential results.
“I train two to three times a day; 90 minutes in the boxing gym, 60 minutes in the conditioning gym and 45 minutes on the treadmill, road or track,” said Lerena.
“Now as a heavyweight, I supplement this with balanced nutrition, eating performance-inspired foods only, anything that aids a better performance.”
In March this year, Lerena stopped Romanian Bogdan Dinu in the fourth round with a technical knockout.
Golden Gloves’ Rodney Berman, the most experienced promoter in South Africa, is giving Lerena all the confidence he needs.
“I visualise the win and continuously play the fight over in my head, especially while training, as this helps me be prepared for whatever my opponent brings. And I’d like to remind my fans that my professional boxing record stands at 27 wins, and 1 loss – 14 knockouts,” Lerena said.
If Lerena wins his heavyweight fight, the next fight could be with Tyson Fury. To top this, his next goal is to fight in the UK, at Wembley or the O2 arena.
“There are no limits for Lerena and he knows he is on a winning streak,” said Lerena’s manager, Peter Smith.