Kevin Lerena proud to be first African boxer to hold WBC bridgerweight belt

Kevin “Two Guns” Lerena says he feels proud to be the first African fighter to hold the World Boxing Council (WBC) bridgerweight title.

Strategically positioned between the cruiserweight and heavyweight categories, bridgerweight was introduced in 2020 as the 18th weight class by WBC president Jose Sulaiman.

Lerena campaigned in the cruiserweight, where he ruled with an iron fist as the IBO champ with six successful defences before moving up to the heavyweights.

Lerena lost to Daniel Dubois via a third-round technical knockout for the World Boxing Association heavyweight belt on December 3 2022. He dropped the big Englishman three times in round 1 but clearly did not carry the power to harm a fully-fledged heavyweight fighter.

Lerena then went down the bridgerweight division and won the WBC silver belt on May 13 last year.

The left-hander, whose career was guided by promoter Rodney Berman, added the WBC interim bridgerweight title on November 23 last year, which put him in line for the world title.

In the meantime, the WBC bridgerweight title changed hands, with the former WBC and World Boxing Organisation cruiserweight champion Englishman Lawrence Okole ending the reign of Polish champion Lukasz Rozanski in May.

Okole was to defend the belt against Lerena but the champion relinquished the title last week as he moved up to the heavyweights.

The WBC championship committee installed Lerena as the new champion, making him the third local fighter in history to hold the sought after WBC belt. The others were Thulani Malinga and Dingaan Thobela.

“I feel proud to be the first African boxer to hold the WBC bridgerweight belt,” said Lerena, the former horse-racing champion jockey who had no amateur boxing experience.

“Today my name is mentioned in the same line with those of legendary fighters ‘Sugar Boy’ Malinga and ‘The Rose of Soweto’ Thobela. 

“I said in the last five years of my career I want to do it on bigger stages in the world and represent my country with pride and that is what I am doing.”

Lerena insists he will compete between the bridgerweight and heavyweight categories.

Meanwhile, Sivenathi “The Special One” Nontshinga lost the International Boxing Federation junior-flyweight belt to Japanese Masamichi Yabuki in Japan by a ninth-round stoppage, registering his 16th short-route win in 17 wins in 21 fights.

Nontshinga, who went down three times in this fight, was bidding for the first defence since winning the belt in February.

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