Daniel Dubois vs. Kevin Lerena | BT PPV - 3 December 2022

[1118530]

Decent fight this, being overlooked due to the Fury v Chizz circus.

[THEBUTCH]

gregregegg, Outpointing the oft-beaten Wach means little now in the heavyweight scene, so Lerena hasn't proved much before stepping in with Dubois....who, as well all know, is a big hitter.

Apart from the lack of size and being easy to hit (yep, that's going to go well against DDD) Lerena isn't much cop either. Certainly to the extent where he doesn't bring much to trouble DDD. The problem is since Joyce bludgeoned DDD, the opposition has been remarkably uninspiring.....and so it continues.

W@rren is doing yet another bad job of getting one his boxers prepared for world class.

[gregregegg]

gregregegg, Outpointing the oft-beaten Wach means little now in the heavyweight scene, so Lerena hasn't proved much before stepping in with Dubois....who, as well all know, is a big hitter.

Apart from the lack of size and being easy to hit (yep, that's going to go well against DDD) Lerena isn't much cop either. Certainly to the extent where he doesn't bring much to trouble DDD. The problem is since Joyce bludgeoned DDD, the opposition has been remarkably uninspiring.....and so it continues.

W@rren is doing yet another bad job of getting one his boxers prepared for world class.

I dont think he is great. I think he will get KO'd within 6 or 7... but, i dont think its a bad fight for DDD, its a 50th-20th type guy..

MY main point is i dont think his size should right him off as an opponent, theres plenty of "cruisers" that are wayyy better than most heavies. a decent 6'1 southpaw isnt a bad look for a young upcoming heavyweight.

as for it being a bad job getting ready... If DDDs plan is to fight Usyk for the title one day, then a southpaw camp is good prep.... hard to say if you wanna go short and average (lerena) or tall and average (wallin) or taller and averager (mckean) but there probably some of best camps you can have for usyk. And off those 3 Lerena is the toughest fight for DDD.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Kevin Lerena sees advantages in matchup with Daniel Dubois

Kevin Lerena is sick of feeling overlooked and undervalued.

It’s evening in Johannesburg and Kevin Lerena sits in darkness.

“It’s called ‘load shedding’,” he explains to Bad Left Hook, rolling his eyes. “Every night there are planned power outages across South Africa to save on energy. It’s annoying, but we are pretty used to it now.”

“I guess it’s similar to my career,” he chuckles. “Us South Africans are forever overlooked, underappreciated, and left in the dark when it comes to sport. But it’s something we have become aware of as a nation. I don’t know why. It’s a question I ask myself a lot. Maybe it’s because we aren’t in the heartland of Europe or North America; we are outsiders and not considered a first world country? But now that I have been given an opportunity it’s down to me to grab it with both hands — no one else.”

That opportunity comes on Dec. 3. Lerena is thrown into the spotlight on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Derek Chisora to challenge heavyweight Daniel Dubois (18-1, 17 KO) inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It signals just the fourth time the 30-year-old will have fought outside of his home nation, but this step up in quality and chance of exposure is something he has been craving since turning professional.

“I haven’t been this motivated in a long time,” he says. “I am all too aware that this is a big task ahead of me, but I am excited more than anything. It’s going to be quite something walking out in front of 65,000 fans in London — all rooting for Daniel — but we are coming to cause an upset and not just enjoy the occasion.”

Lerena speaks like a man with years of boxing experience under his belt, but it has been a fairly rapid rise for the Johannesburg fighter. He first stepped into a ring in 2011 and has gone 28-1 (14 KO) in 11 years without benefitting from the foundations of an amateur career.

“I’ve been forced to learn on the job,” he adds. “I’m no silver spoon kid. I had to fight growing up and nothing has changed now except I get paid to do so. We are seen as gutter dogs from my part of the world: we’re not expected to amount to anything. But I am ready to change that.”

“I was ignored for years while I was South African cruiserweight champion and IBO champion. I was handed guys like Artur Mann and Sefer Seferi and never given that chance of a big fight, so a move up to heavyweight was always on the cards. I haven’t really put on that much weight. I walk around about 230 lbs, and that’s what I used to walk around at when I was a cruiserweight. So I’m comfortable knowing I don’t have to do those drastic weight cuts during camp.

“I am not stupid,” he continues. “I am not oblivious to the fact that I have got a hard fight ahead of me in Dubois, but I know that I am the most skillful fighter he would have ever come up against. He is going to see something very different in me to what he is used to fighting. I am not a guy that’s going to come and stand in front of him all night. I’ll use speed, skill and precision to be victorious. Speed beats power and I need to make full use of mine.”

Dubois is rebuilding his career following a damaging defeat to Joe Joyce in 2020. The 25-year-old suffered broken left orbital bone and nerve damage around the eye at the hands of the hard-hitting “Juggernaut,” but has since gone 3-0, fighting twice in the United States.

Lerena claims not to base too much of his preparation on studying Dubois’ solitary defeat, but understands the threat that the Briton carries.

“He has got a very simple but effective style,” he admits. “He is very strong and relies on his power a lot, which is expected. But the fight against Joyce will be a lot different to ours. There you had two bulls in the ring, but with my explosiveness and speed, it’s going to be very different.

“Dubois’ eye hasn’t even come into consideration. I never take pleasure in seeing someone get injured in boxing, so it’s certainly not something we are going to target specifically. At the end of the day that eye would have completely healed now and he will be a new man. If you focus on something too small you can often miss the bigger picture of the fight.”

The jump from cruiserweight to heavyweight can often be scrutinised by the boxing public, but Lerena is comforted by a growing archive of successful attempts. Evander Holyfield, David Haye, and Oleksandr Usyk have all successfully scaled the top of each division and the South African sees no reason why his name can’t join theirs in the future.

“Those three champions all had very different styles but it shows that it can be done in many different ways,” he explains. “It’s the best kind of motivation though. I grew up watching Holyfield and Haye so the blueprint is there.”

The lights turn back on in the Lerena household as he signs off with conviction.

“Listen, I know what Dubois is going to bring to the table but we have done everything possible in preparation. I’ve had some great sparring with Martin Bakole and Keaton Gomes and I’ve stood up to everything they have thrown at me. I can tell you right now that he doesn’t punch harder than Martin. We are bringing our own style to this fight and it’s going to be nothing he has seen before.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Daniel Dubois' Trainer Expects Kevin Lerena To Provide a Very Good Test

"He's the WBA 'regular' champion. People might discredit it; we boxed Trevor Bryan for it. [But Dubois] still holds a version of a world title that puts him in line for being in a powerful position. He's highly, highly ranked with the WBA," McGuigan told Sky Sports.

"We get that shot [at Usyk], next in line. Because Usyk's got all the other belts, he's got the IBF, the WBO and the WBA, Fury's got the WBC. Out of the IBF, WBA and WBO, Daniel is the first in line, the WBA is the first in line to get the shot."

"We need that prep. He needs prep to be able to do that," McGuigan said.

"He's got a slippery opponent in Kevin Lerena, a guy that's come up from cruiserweight, decent mover, good head movement. He's not like Usyk, he doesn't dart around on his feet but he's got the ability to move his head and he makes himself small, he's hard to hit clean. It's a good test for us. We need to get through this and see how he does with a southpaw."

[polecateddy]

Lerena looks very much like Kyotaro Fujimoto. Soft, blown up heavyweight on too much whey protein. Zero power. Probably will last all of 2 rounds.

[maverick23]

Lerena looks very much like Kyotaro Fujimoto. Soft, blown up heavyweight on too much whey protein. Zero power. Probably will last all of 2 rounds.

And yet it will still be the best win of Dubois’ career so far I think.

[Dioufy]

Lerena looks very much like Kyotaro Fujimoto. Soft, blown up heavyweight on too much whey protein. Zero power. Probably will last all of 2 rounds.

And yet it will still be the best win of Dubois’ career so far I think.

Who wins? Lerena or Gorman?

[maverick23]

Lerena looks very much like Kyotaro Fujimoto. Soft, blown up heavyweight on too much whey protein. Zero power. Probably will last all of 2 rounds.

And yet it will still be the best win of Dubois’ career so far I think.

Who wins? Lerena or Gorman?

If Lerena fought the Gorman that was beat by Dubois, I’d pick Lerena fairly comfortably. A more fit, mentally prepared Gorman would make it a tighter fight but I’d still probably pick Lerena in a close one.

Gorman’s son was in intensive care for around a month with pneumonia during his training camp and his daughter was born on the Tuesday of fight week. It’s almost impossible to be properly prepared with that going on.

[Dioufy]

And yet it will still be the best win of Dubois’ career so far I think.

Who wins? Lerena or Gorman?

If Lerena fought the Gorman that was beat by Dubois, I’d pick Lerena fairly comfortably. A more fit, mentally prepared Gorman would make it a tighter fight but I’d still probably pick Lerena in a close one.

Gorman’s son was in intensive care for around a month with pneumonia during his training camp and his daughter was born on the Tuesday of fight week. It’s almost impossible to be properly prepared with that going on.

I don’t think Gorman did as bad as what some people think. He lost every round but DDD just had too much firepower for him; never mind that Victor Laughlin did run his count pretty fast. Gorman was never in with a chance but I’ve got a feeling Dubois bangs out this cruiser even quicker. He’s just so heavy handed; both right and left hands.

I’d personally favour a Gorman who is 255ish over this Lerena.

[polecateddy]

Lerena can’t be one of the best 30 heavies in the world. Gorman might be just.

[keithmoonhangover]

Lerena could get seriously hurt in this one.

[polecateddy]

Why is this PPV? Fury/Chisora is bad enough. This is like a Lewis v Justin Fortune non title blowout/workout fight.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Does Lerena have any chance here? realistically?

His HW resume is:

Patrick Ferguson TKO5
Bogdan Dinu TKO4
Mariusz Wach UD12

Best wins at CW are:

Artur Mann, Youri Kalenga, Dmytro Kucher, Firat Arslan..

Take your pick.

He can say he has beaten everyone he has fought!

[Ruthless-RKO]

Why is this PPV? Fury/Chisora is bad enough. This is like a Lewis v Justin Fortune non title blowout/workout fight.

It's on the undercard of Fury/Chisora

[cormack]

Its not a great step forward for DDD frankly , something of a card filler level.
I saw Lerena on YT a while back and wasnt impressed at all .
He will be on his arse ready for an early night in no time .

[Ruthless-RKO]

[joshj909]

Dubois is still so far off being championship level. Warren's approach to Dubois is similar to Yarde. He will end up losing because he is just not experienced enough against top opponents.

[wrighty]

Lerena is going to get leathered. He should have just stayed at cruiser. Nothing good will come of this at all. He's not got the size, power or speed.

[margaret thatcher]

lerena would beat gorman, though he might get leathered out earlier here. when dudes are both so overmatched it's about who takes a beating better, but from what i see lerena is fitter and more talented than gorman, if he wins 20 seconds of a round he'll have won more than gorman did

[gregregegg]

lerena would beat gorman, though he might get leathered out earlier here. when dudes are both so overmatched it's about who takes a beating better, but from what i see lerena is fitter and more talented than gorman, if he wins 20 seconds of a round he'll have won more than gorman did

I thought gorman won the first vs DDD. left hook was sharp.

(only seen it at the time, might be due for a rewatch because the memory plays tricks...)

[billy nelson]

hopefully not yet another can for dubs

the whyte fight sounds good if that can be made

Bakole #5 with the WBA and fight should be easy to make so I can see that.

If that doesn’t materialise I’d take Dubois v Bryan II.

Redemption.

Dont see a need for DDD to fight bakole. but mabey i guess.

Whyte, lucus brown, or big baby miller. They would be my bets.

DDD doesn’t want to be in the same building has Martin Bakole let alone a boxing ring
Martin stops him plain and simple(again)

[MightyWarrior]

Billy when you say again are you referring to the Joyce fight or sparring w Martin?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Fight Week!

[wrighty]

I want to see Bakole get his shot. Tough man