Lerena fully aware of his adversary ahead of bout with Merhy

This is not how it was supposed to be.

Kevin Lerena was not supposed to be battling it out in a new weight division. Not after he had made inroads into his desired heavyweight division.

But such is the unpredictable nature of the pugilistic sport that things can literally change with one punch. It is how you handle the change that makes the difference. Lerena, stopped hard in his tracks just when he thought he was en route to realising his long-held dream of being world champion at the sport’s highest level, has seen it best to take a slight detour.

It is a detour he hopes will eventually get him to his dream destination of becoming the undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion. 

Lerena fights Belgium’s Ivory Coast-born Ryad Merhy in a WBC bridgerweight title eliminator at Emperor’s Palace on Saturday night for the right to challenge champion Lukasz Rozanski of Poland.

It will be his first time in the ring since he was stopped by Britain’s Daniel Dubois during their tussle for the WBA (regular) heavyweight title in December. Disheartening as that defeat was, especially given that he had sent Dubois to the canvas on three occasions in the first round, Lerena has moved on and is gleefully looking forward to grabbing his new opportunity.

“It is a fighting sport. You are going to lose some and win some. I learnt the hard way from that fight. When a man is hurt, finish him off. I was unlucky and he got lucky. But that’s all in the past. The focus is on this next fight”

The next fight comes shortly after Lerena had celebrated two key life milestones he feels have got him more fired up to continue making a success of a career that is already exemplary.

In April, Lerena and his wife were blessed with their third child after the birth of their second son, Malakai Anton. Last Friday the southpaw, who previously held the IBO cruiserweight title, turned 31.

“I am blessed, brother. I got to spend my birthday with the family, and my motivation to do well is now more with the addition of the latest member of the family.”

He said he has prepared well for the fight having long recovered from the Dubois loss.

“Training has gone so good; I am ready mentally and physically. It’s time for me to do business, and God willing, the victory will come.”

What helps make him more confident is that Lerena is fully aware of his adversary.

“I know him well. We were meant to fight each other in 2021 [for Merhy’s WBA regular  cruiserweight title] but it didn’t happen [the Belgian had to withdraw due to a broken hand]. He is a good fighter with a good record.”

Merhy boasts a fantastic 30-1 record with impressive knockout statistics of 25 fights — the kind of numbers to send opposition quaking in the boots, right?

Not so. After all, his record of 28-2 with 14 knockouts is not too shabby in comparison.

“I don’t think he has faced anybody like me and he is coming to my territory,” said the boxer who always enjoys huge partisan support at Emperor’s Palace, a factor that has generally helped him put most of his opponents to sleep.

Add Merhy to the list of his victims on Saturday night and Lerena will take a huge step towards the heavyweight championship dream he has nursed since that April 29 night of 2017 when he watched Athony Joshua stop Vladimir Klitschko in front of a 90,000 strong crowd at the Wembley Stadium.

The fight with champion Lukasz Rozanski would soon follow, and victory has to surely see him earning his spot among the heavyweight contenders.

We are getting carried away though because there is Saturday’s fight to get over first.

“Of course you have to take each fight as it comes. For now it is about winning in the birdgerweight and doing as well as I can there. I wouldn’t say I have a time limit as to when I would like to see myself back fighting in the heavyweights. It is all about when the opportunity comes. No time limits.”

Beating Merhy will definitely help make the route to the heavyweights a little shorter. But what will it take to get the better of the Belgian?

“It will take a lot of skill and 100% relentless pressure.”

Lerena is renowned to dish out both those every time he steps into the ring. You can bet he will do just that on Saturday, the fact that he was not supposed to have been fighting in the bridgerweight division notwithstanding.]

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