Kevin ‘still a work in progress’
Lerena is no amateur, but will that be his downfall at some stage in future?
MUHAMMAD Ali had it in spades, and closer to home, Hekkie Budler and Tulani Mbenge have a respectable dose of it.
But rising star Kevin Lerena has none; when it comes to amateur pedigree, not all boxers are made equal.
The local trio have travelled different paths to promoter Rodney Berman’s “Thunder and Lightning” tournament at Emperors Palace, east of Johannesburg, on Saturday.
Budler, who tops the bill bidding to reclaim the IBO junior-flyweight title he lost six years ago, had an amateur record of 140 wins and 10 losses.
Mbenge was South Africa’s only boxing medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Lerena never fought as an amateur, apart from a few street fights, he says with a laugh.
Sceptics predict Lerena’s bubble will burst, in similar fashion to that of heavyweight Flo Simba, whose meteoric rise lasted all of 10 fights after an all-too-brief amateur career.
SA cruiserweight champion Lerena, with 16 wins and a loss, has been promised action in the US if he gets past ageing Namibian Vikapita Meroro on Saturday.
Trainer Peter Smith says Lerena is “a work in progress”, still three years from a world title. But he adds that lacking amateur experience is not necessarily a train smash.
“The biggest problem with amateur boxing is, if you keep getting taught a bad habit and you transfer that into the pro career, you will fall.”
Ali won Olympic gold. Like him, many great amateurs have become great professionals, but not every amateur star makes the transition. Heavyweight Daan Bekker won two Olympic medals for SA, in 1956 and 1960, but as a professional he had just nine fights, winning and losing the national title in that time.
Conversely, few fighters with limited amateur experience become great professionals, à la Roberto Duran.
Lerena knows he has much to learn. “I’ll probably be a student forever.”
Budler attributes his success to a decade of amateur fights. “Sparring, fighting, I’ve been in different situations, facing fighters with different styles. It has all helped.”
He won his first world title in his 15th bout, earning a ON THE BOUNCE: Kevin Lerena after defending his SA junior-heavyweight title against Johnny Muller last year. The cruiserweight says he will always be a student of the game controversial split decision. “If I didn’t have the [amateur] experience I would have lost.”
Budler was dethroned in his second defence and then dropped to mini-flyweight, picking up the IBO and WBA crowns before losing them last year. Now he’s back at 48.99kg, going into his 33rd paid bout.
Lerena’s stablemate Rowen Campbell, going into his second professional fight on Saturday’s undercard, also has no amateur experience.
The light-heavyweight’s passion for pugilism started as a pupil at Parktown Boys High. His accountant father tried to discourage him, putting him into a golf academy to mine his potential in that sport, based on his ability to drive a par-four green. He also insisted his son study first.
Nothing worked. Campbell, now 23 and armed with an IT software certificate, still chose boxing.
Lerena and Campbell have the heart, but they need to build up experience to bridge the amateur gap.
Live broadcast starts on SuperSport 7 from 7.30pm.