A noticeably leaner, yet typically confident Kevin Lerena announced his decision to return to the cruiserweight division on Tuesday in North Riding.
“I’m going back down to cruiserweight to become a three-time world champion. They told me that I couldn’t make cruiserweight ever again—well, here we are. I’m only 6 kg off the limit. So, I will become a three-time cruiserweight world champion,” said Lerena.
Lerena recently lost his WBC bridgerweight title to Ryad Merhy in Belgium at the end of May, and at 34, he has made the firm decision to move back down to a lighter weight class.
The bout was a rematch between the two fighters after Lerena previously defeated Merhy in Johannesburg back in 2023. This time around, Lerena went the full 12 rounds with the challenger, with the judges scoring the fight 116–112, 117–111, and 115–113 in favor of Merhy.
Now, Lerena is hard at work in training to shed the necessary weight to compete at cruiserweight, which carries an upper limit of 90.7 kg.
Return to Cruiserweight & Future Goals
Lerena revealed that his trainer, Peter Smith, gave him a strict weight target before they could begin formal fight preparation.
“I’m working away quietly. Pete told me, ‘Go away from the gym, come back four weeks later, and I need you at 97 [kg].’ That’s not a problem, because I’m already at 96.9 kg.”
However, finding an opponent in the new division could prove tricky.
“I need to get a win. Hopefully, sometime in October or November, Pete will look at some opponents for me to see who we could fight—obviously someone in the top 50 or top 100. Because I’m rated number five in the WBC, I can’t just fight anybody.
“Pete will look at possible options, which is never easy because the Rand/Dollar exchange rate also murders us. But I’ll get back to winning ways.”
@Michael_Sherman
IOL Sport
