Kerman Lejarraga is making a very quick return to the ring.
On September 28th, Lejarraga was stopped the first round of his EBU world title rematch with David Avanesyan at the Bilbao Arena of Miribilla. The first time around, in March, Avanesyan stopped him in the ninth.
After the fight, Lejarraga stated that he really struggled to make the welterweight limit of 147, and a move to 154 was needed as soon as possible. He will make his junior middleweight debut in Barcelona on November 30, as announced by his promoter, MGZ Promotions.
After the heartbreaking first round TKO defeat, Txutxi del Valle , the head trainer of Lejarraga, stated - "Kerman Lejarraga was very weak. On Friday it took four hours to make the weight. And that was noted on Saturday in the fight. Kerman was not really touched [by his opponent], and at that moment you want to yell at the the referee [for stopping the fight], but then you think about it and see that something with [Lejarraga] was not right."
"I agreed that he will be European champion again, but in another division. It is a fact that his days in the welterweight division are over. It was very difficult to make the weight. Now we confirm the jump to super welterweight."
"We are very excited about the move to super welterweight, looking towards the EU title, so we want to position ourselves well above. Barcelona is the first stop of a new adventure."
An opponent is sought to make him work in his first fight at that weight, in order to be placed in line for a European Union (EU) championship, something that is expected could happen in the early months of 2020
“Actually, I am very motivated with this new journey in the super welterweight division. We have new goals and the head is already focused on not suffering to have to make weight. I really want to fight in Barcelona, ??because it is the first time I have boxed there and I am very grateful for the support they give me,” said Lejarraga.
