Kevin Lerena Hungers To Break Through on The World Scene

By Thomas Gerbasi

South Africa has never had a shortage when it comes to boxers that were able to make the leap from local heroes to international standouts. From Jake Matlala and Corrie Sanders to Lehlohonolo Ledwaba and Phillip N’dou, the nation has made world champions, TV action fighters and everything in between.

The latest with the potential to make some noise outside of his home country is Johannesburg’s Kevin Lerena, a cruiserweight southpaw with looks, right hooks and the knowledge that his time is almost here.

“I can honestly say that I thrive under pressure,” Lerena said. “I need something to excite me, something that wakes me up every day, gets me to the gym and makes me work extra hard. Besides having to work hard for my family, knowing that the world of boxing is starting to talk about me motivates me even more and it doesn’t allow me to switch off. So what comes with the pressure also comes with a lot of motivation in the future for me. It gives me a lot of hunger to say the world’s talking about me; now it’s about me stepping up.”

Currently ranked in the top 15 by both the WBO and WBC, the 24-year-old will attempt to improve his record to 17-1 when he faces Vikapita Meroro on Feb. 4, and in his first fight of the year, he’s looking to make a statement.

“I would definitely say that in 2016, I broke through, and in 2017, I need to capitalize on what I’ve done to make things even bigger for myself.”

Last year, Lerena went 3-0, but the most important of those three victories was the first one, as he avenged the lone loss of his career by stopping Johnny Muller in April. It was a fight Lerena probably could have avoided, free to continue his career and forget his 2014 decision defeat, but that’s not the kind of competitor he is.

“Put it this way,” he said. “The first fight we had in 2014, to be honest with you, I was still just a kid. I was young, I was naïve. Having said that, the fight was very close. But I knew deep down that if I fought a different game plan, I could have knocked that guy out. I had him hurt about five times in the fight, but his experience did overpower me in the end. And then when we got the rematch, I knew I was gonna knock him out because I knew what I had to do to beat him. And I needed that rematch because it was bothering me that I took a loss in my career. No one likes the ‘0’ to go, and I gave mine away.”

That’s a fighter talking. And most would share Lerena’s desire to even the score, but that’s when managers, trainers and promoters get involved and put a nix on such plans. Not Team Lerena.

“In South Africa, that was a big local fight,” he said of the Muller rematch. “So the fans wanted to see it again, the promoter wanted to see it again, and my whole team wanted it again. It was a fight that had a lot of hype behind it here in South Africa.”

And Lerena delivered, halting Muller in the tenth round. With that out of the way, it was back to the quest for a world title, and in the gym, he’s getting plenty of good advice from a pair of fighters who aren’t strangers to such matters.

“Thabiso Mchunu is my teammate, and he just fought Oleksandr Usyk for the world title in America,” Lerena said. “He’s a very good cruiserweight, he’s a counterpuncher, he’s a skillful guy, but we’re obviously teammates, so we’d never fight each other. We also have Isaac Chilemba; he’s a light heavyweight who took (Sergey) Kovalev the distance. So we’ve got some good guys. I spar with all these guys week in and week out, and they’re very good fighters and they’ve all been on the big stage. So I’m waiting for my chance to get on the big stage and I want to grab the opportunity with both hands.”

But what of everything else that goes along with life at the elite level? Lerena has star potential and he’s handled the spotlight at home like a pro, but everything gets elevated when on the world stage. Is he ready for that?

“Honestly, I don’t box for the fame and I don’t box for the lights and the cameras,” he said. “If that all comes with it, I’m grateful that I’m in the public eye and I hope to be a good ambassador for boxing. But at the end of the day, I’ve gotta fight. When that bell goes, I’ve gotta put my gloves on and I’ve gotta fight, and that’s what I do best. So whatever comes with that afterwards, that’s a secondary or bonus thing. The most important thing for me is fighting and winning.”

Again, that’s a fighter talking. And Kevin Lerena is ready for his close-up in 2017.

“All the fights I’ve had, this is what I’ve worked for,” he said. “And every opponent they’ve brought me, I have never ducked anybody. They gave me the contract, I signed on the dotted line and I don’t change my mindset. Having said that, I’ve got to get past this guy who’s in front of me and then look at what’s next. But if they throw me a guy in the top 10, I’ve got to beat those guys. If you can’t beat those guys, you can’t say you’re the best. I can’t say I’m trying to put South Africa on the map because it’s already on the map, but I’m looking to break through for South Africa and I’m putting my hand up. I’m ready to step up to the world.”