May 13: Kevin Lerena vs Ryad Merhy
South African southpaw Kevin Lerena (28-2, 14KO) will return to the ring at Emperor’s Palace Kempton Park, South Africa on May 13 to face Belgian Ryad Merhy (31-1, 26KO) in a highly anticipated WBC Silver Bridgerweight title fight, which will also be an eliminatory bout.
The winner of this match will face the WBC Bridgerweight champion, the Polish Lukasz Rozanski, who was crowned on April 22 by knocking out unbeaten Croatian Alen Babic in the first round.
The final press conference of this meeting was held where both warriors were present, as well as WBC representative Peter Ngatane and the prominent South African promoter Rodney Berman.
“It’s good to see a WBC eliminatory back on South African soil. We will have a great first level show where the winner will obtain the Silver title and will be an official challenger”, commented Berman.
For his part, Mehrysaid: “This is a great opportunity for me. I feel in excellent condition and with great maturity to be a world champion. I’m sure it will be a great fight.”
"The KO Kid" Lerena was last seen in London, in December, flooring Daniel Dubois three times in the first round before being stopped himself in the third. That fight was for Dubois' WBA World heavyweight belt, but now he comes down a category to fight at bridgerweight.
The former long-reigning IBO World cruiserweight champion from Johannesburg commented: “It is going to be a great fight. I’m sure I can beat Merhy. I had a great training camp and the best will come out with his hand up."
Article sponsored by HÖRFA
