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Van in the middle for muller bout

READY: Johnny Muller and Kevin Lerena flank Brian Mitchell during their pre-fight medical PHOTO: Nick Lourens
READY: Johnny Muller and Kevin Lerena flank Brian Mitchell during their pre-fight medical PHOTO: Nick Lourens

VETERAN referee Jaap van Niewenhuizen will be the third man in the ring when Johnny "The Hurricane" Muller and Kevin "KO Kid" Lerena collide in their eagerly-awaited showdown at Emperors Palace on Saturday night.

Boxing South Africa provincial manager Archie Nyingwa told Sowetan in an exclusive interview yesterday that it was decided to hand the 10-rounder over to an experienced referee because of its high profile.

"I don't undermine my other officials but I needed someone of Jaap's calibre for this one," Nyingwa said.

"I know for sure that he will not try and steal the limelight from the fighters and end up robbing the public of what promises to be an intriguing fight."

Niewenhuizen is yet to be informed of the plum assignment, as per boxing rules, and he unknowingly mingled with the boxing fraternity at the pre-fight medical yesterday, unaware that he has a date in the ring with the two fighters.

The 67-year old is a vastly experienced official and has served the sport with aplomb since 1987.

Said Lerena: "Johnny has fought big guys even in the heavyweight division, but they were out of shape. I will knock him clean out."

Muller fired back: "He won't be able to go more rounds with me. I will knock him out."

The weight was of no importance to Muller and Lerena because there is nothing at stake between them.

But their match-up has generated so much interest that it is threatening to steal the thunder from the fight for the vacant WBC international light-heavyweight title between Thomas "Tommy Gun" Oosthuizen and Russian Denis Grachev.

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