Kevin “Two Guns” Lerena takes aim at WBA heavyweight title

Kevin “Two Guns” Lerena has signed the contract to challenge WBA regular heavyweight champion Daniel “Triple D” Dubois at 90,000-capacity Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on December 3.

Their fight will warm the stage for the WBC heavyweight championship between holder Tyson “Gypsy King” Fury and Derek ”Del Boy” Chisora. The fight will be Dubois’s first defence.

Dubois, a 25-year-old Englishman who has previously held multiple regional championship, including the British and Commonwealth titles, has knocked out 17 of his 18 victims. His only loss in 19 bouts was to Joe Joyce, in November 2020, for the European title.

Lerena on the other hand is a former undefeated IBO cruiserweight champion who introduced himself in the league of the big boys by winning the WBA Intercontinental title on March 26. The biggest drawcard in SA currently, he captured that title by way of fourth-round knockout of Bogdan Dinu who was defeated on points by Dubois for the WBA Interim title on June 5 last year.

The supremely built left hander whose fruitful career is guided by respected veteran promoter Rodney Berman said: “There is no bigger stage than the heavyweight division; the fight will be fought in front of 90,000 people in London; how’s that?”

“It’s gonna be a tough fight. I am all in; I will just need to be fast, smart and explosive. Dubois is a very strong fighter but he’s gonna struggle to deal with my speed.”

Lerena, who is trained by Peter Smith, has won 28 of his 29 fights and 14 of his victims did not hear the bell going for the last round.

In the main event, Fury will make the third defence of the WBC title he has successfully defended twice against Deontay Wilder. He will face Chisora, the UK-based Zimbabwean who has been in there with big names in the business.

In fact their upcoming fight will be their second, with Fury winning their first one with a stoppage in the 12th round for the European, British and WBO International titles in 2014.