Trainer Bob Santos knows anything can happen in the heavyweight division, and he has prepared Lenier Pero accordingly.
Pero faces Jordan Thompson on Saturday night at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida. The bout serves as the main event of a DAZN telecast.
Currently, Pero, 12-0 (8 KOs), is ranked No. 3 by the WBA in the heavyweight division. Considered an intriguing potential contender, Pero was signed by Matchroom Boxing – a major player in the division – earlier this year.
Yet Santos knows the danger involved with heavyweight boxing. Whether it is the power of Fabio Wardley shocking the sport (and Joseph Parker) last weekend in an upset victory or the resolve of Tyson Fury getting off the canvas against Deontay Wilder to hear the final bell in their first match, the heavyweight division can be wildly unpredictable. Knockout power and durability are factors that can be as important as skill among boxing’s mammoths.
“That is what the heavyweight division is – it is almost a sport into itself,” Santos told BoxingScene. “The heavyweight division is completely different than all the other weight classes.”
Pero, a 32-year-old from Cuba, now trains with Santos in Las Vegas. He last fought in April, winning a unanimous decision over Detrailous Webster. Before that fight, Pero had been inactive for 13 months.
“You have to really be ready, because the strangest things do happen,” Santos said. “And when they do happen, it is most likely going to happen in the heavyweight division.”
As for Thompson, 15-1 (12 KOs), he hasn’t fought since his lone loss to Jai Opetaia, one of the best cruiserweights of the modern era. That loss came more than two years ago. Thompson stands at 6ft 7ins, and despite his falling to a fighter in a smaller division, Santos is not taking him lightly.
“Obviously, he is big,” Santos said of Thompson. “He has a huge frame, and that is why I am kind of questioning whether he was having trouble making the cruiserweight limit.”
Pero is in a high-profile fight, aiming to advance to big fights, big money and the biggest titles – but he isn’t looking past Thompson, who could ruin all of it.
“He is focused, and he did what he needed to do,” Santos said. “He knows a lot is riding on this.”
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
