Lerena must defeat Justis to cash in on big rewards
Kevin Lerena says a win over unbeaten Australian prospect Justis Huni in Saudi Arabia on Friday night will secure him another big heavyweight payday.
The 31-year-old South African, with a record of 30 wins and two defeats, takes on the 24-year-old who has just eight paid bouts to his name on a huge card at the Kingdom arena in Riyadh.
Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua faces Francis Ngannou, the MMA fighter who dropped Tyson Fury on his way to losing his professional debut on a split decision last year.
Also in action are Joseph Parker and Zhilel Zhang fighting for the WBO’s interim heavyweight title, not to mention a couple of other world title bouts at lighter divisions.
It’s another huge stage for Lerena, who was stopped in his 2022 challenge for the WBA belt by Daniel Dubois in London; victory could propel him to bigger things.
“I know what fight’s been offered to me next,” Lerena told the Sunday Times before departing on Friday. “So I need to beat this guy to get that fight.”
He didn’t offer further details but said it would be “a very big one in June”.
“It has been offered to me [as long as] I beat Huni.”
On paper, southpaw Lerena has far more experience — 219 rounds to 62 — but Huni comes with a serious amateur pedigree, having won a 2019 world championship bronze at super heavyweight.
This bout has the hallmarks of Lerena being tagged the stepping stone for a young gun being groomed for the future, but the trained paramedic sees it differently.
“You’ve got to look at the magnitude of the fights they’re making in Saudi Arabia and the purses people are getting paid.
“So the youngsters, of only eight fights, are fighting the guys with bigger names, bigger résumés because of the monetary values, so there’s two ways of looking at it. “He hasn’t fought any big names. I’ll be his first big name,” said Lerena, who believes he has the skill and experience to win the 10rounder.
“He’s a young, explosive fighter. He’s got good hands. He throws good combinations. He’s got a high work rate. But you know, this is heavyweight boxing, you’ve got to be able to avoid those and be evasive and durable. And that’s what I am, you know what I mean?
“I think the key is to outsmart him, stick to my game plan,” added Lerena, who has been 12 rounds on eight occasions. Huni has gone 10 rounds three times.
I know what fight’s been offered to me next so I need to beat this guy
Kevin Lerena
Win or lose, Lerena will remain in line to fight for the WBC’s fledgling bridgerweight title, introduced for the “smaller” big men.
“Bridgerweight is always a huge option because there’s some big fights to be made there too, like I think there’s been talks about a few big names coming down to fight there. So there’s always that option. But you know, I think the one thing about bridgerweight and heavyweight is that you can dabble in both.” The tournament will be streamed on DAZN pay-per-view from 6pm at a cost of R369.99.