By Ron Jackson
It has been announced that South Africa’s Kevin “Two Guns” Lerena will have his third bout in the heavyweight division when he meets Mariusz “The Viking” Wach from Krakow, Poland on September 17 at Emperors Palace near Kempton Park.
In his first fight in the top division, he stopped Patrick Ferguson (93.55kg) in the fifth round and then scored a fourth-round knockout win over Bogdan Dinu (113.96kg).
Weighing in at around 105kgs against Dinu, Lerena (27-1, 14 KOs) looked in prime condition as a fully-fledged heavyweight.
However, he will have massive height, reach and weight disadvantages against the much bigger Wach, who tipped the scales at nearly 118kgs for his last fight on 19 February 2022, a sixth-round knockout loss against Arslanbek. Makhmudov.
Wach (38-8, 19 KOs) who will celebrate his 43rd birthday on December 14, has been fighting as a pro since December 2005 and has been in with top heavyweights like Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin, Jarrell Miller, Hughie Fury and Dillian White, all losses.
Winning only won three of his last nine fights he is well past his best and has slowed down but will have height (202cm) and reach (208cm) advantages against the southpaw Lerena.
In his most recent fight, Lerena had no problems with the match bigger Dinu and it is on the cards that he will have the beating of Wach.
In the main supporting bout on the Lerena vs Wach card the 37-year-old South African lightweight champion Tshifhiwa “Atomic Spider” Munyai (35-6-1, 20 KOs) defends his title against former South African and IBO featherweight champion Lusanda Komanisi (25-6, 22 KOs).
Kevin Lerena is always in good shape, a really talented boxer, from all his interviews a great guy, but what is he doing at heavyweight, he is simply too small.
So much for the ‘BIG NAME’ that was promised!!
If Joe Joyce ever gets round to relinquish the Commonwealth title it would be nice to see Lerena face Demsey McKean for the vacant belt.