By Linda Ximba
When Kevin “Two Guns” Lerena steps into the ring on Saturday he will be looking to become the fourth African boxer to win a world crown in the heavyweight division.
Lerena, a former IBO cruiserweight title holder, faces WBA regular champion Daniel Dubois at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. It will be their third fight, with Tyson Fury defeating the UK-based Zimbabwean in both of their previous bouts.
Their bout will be on the undercard for the WBC heavyweight championship between holder Fury and Dereck Chisora.
After ruling the cruiserweight division with his iron fists for almost a decade, Lerena decided to move up to the heavier division planning to annex major world titles.
It has been a while since South Africa last produced a world heavyweight title. Should he cause an upset on Saturday, Lerena will scribble his name in boxing records by becoming the fourth African boxer to clinch a heavyweight from one of four highly rated sanctioning bodies.
Gerrie “The Boksburg Bomber” Coetzee was the first African ever to fight for and win a world heavyweight championship, having held the WBA title from 1983 to 1984. He holds notable knockout wins against WBA world heavyweight champion Michael Dokes and former unified world heavyweight champion Leon Spinks.
Francois “White Buffalo” Botha would later emerge with a stunning win for the IBF heavyweight title against Axel Schulz in Germany in 1995.
The late Corrie “The Sniper” Sanders won the WBO heavyweight belt in 2003 after knocking out Wladimir Klitschko in two rounds, considered to be one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter is the last African to score a win after defeating German Oleg Maskaev by a sixth round KO to capture the WBC belt in 2008.
Lerena is under pressure not to disappoint his well-connected promoter Rodney Berman who has made him the WBA Inter-Continental champ, paving the way for the shot at Dubois’ title.
This will be the 25-year-old Brit’s first title defence in what will be his 20th fight. He has knocked out 17 of his 18 opponents and has been stopped only once.
Lerena, boasting a record of 28 wins in 29 fights, with 14 knockouts, called out the big and strong champion for this showdown.
“What are you scared of? You can run, but you can’t hide. You can duck me, you can try to avoid me. But eventually, our paths will cross,” taunted Lerena.
Picture above: Kevin Lerena
Image source: TimesLive
