Cape Town – “What are you scared of? You can run, but you can’t hide. You can duck me, you can try to avoid me. But eventually, our paths will cross.” That was the gauntlet thrown down by South African heavyweight star Kevin Lerena to British boxer Daniel Dubois this week ahead of their proposed title bout.
The 25-year-old Dubois is the current WBA (regular) champion who claimed the belt in June when he beat American Trevor Bryan via a fourth-round knockout in Miami.
He boasts a record of 18-1, with 17 KOs, and is trying to set up a mega-bout with Ukrainian slayer Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO titles, or even lure fellow Briton and WBC champion Tyson Fury into the ring.
But those types of fights seem a long way off Dubois’ radar at the moment. He was set to face 43-year-old Australian Lucas Browne in November, but that move was stopped by the British Boxing Board of Control, who deemed Browne was too old.
Now SA southpaw and former cruiserweight stalwart Lerena is in line for the November 26 bout against Dubois at the O2 Arena in London, although it could be delayed until December.
The 30-year-old from Johannesburg said in a video on his Instagram page this week that the fight was offered to him by Dubois’ camp, which he accepted, but now the WBA champion has yet to sign on the dotted line.
“In light of my last few social media posts regarding Lerena and Dubois, it is true: the fight was offered to us, to fight Daniel Dubois for the WBA title at the O2 Arena. My team, Rodney Berman and Peter Smith, we gathered, we spoke and we accepted the fight immediately. It’s a great opportunity for me to become the WBA world champion,” Lerena said.
“The only delay in this process is that we are waiting for Daniel Dubois to sign the fight and accept the fight and the challenge from me. The fight was proposed to me by your team. I accepted, Daniel Dubois. Why don’t you want to accept?
“A gutter dog from Johannesburg, South Africa. Former cruiserweight, southpaw. I’ve heard via the grapevine that it’s too risky, he’s a southpaw, blah blah blah blah blah.
“The best must fight the best in order to reach the pinnacle. I want to challenge myself to face the best. You are the WBA champion. You are standing in front of me, I accepted – mano-a-mano, man on man. We must fight and be direct.
“Sign the contract, Daniel Dubois. Gutter dog from Johannesburg, South Africa. And I will emphasise that: Johannesburg, South Africa. A small little country on the south of the map. I want to fight you – the best must fight the best. All you need to do is sign the contract.”
Reports from the UK suggest that the fight might be finalised this week still, but as things stand, there has been no confirmation.
It would be an ideal chance for Lerena to take the next step on the path to facing the likes of Fury or Usyk, following a successful transition from being a cruiserweight for most of his career to the blue-riband division of the sport.
After six defences of his IBO cruiserweight belt, Lerena moved up to the heavyweights and has won all three fights so far – against Patrick Ferguson, Bogdan Dinu and on September 17 against Polish giant Mariusz Wach at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg.
His record stands at 28-1, with 14 knockouts, and while he isn’t the biggest heavyweight around at 1.85m and at around 105kg, that doesn’t bother him.
“Yes, I’m a smaller heavyweight, but so what? This smaller heavyweight is kind of making big men look average, and I plan to continue to do that,” Lerena told Sport in a previous interview.
“My training has changed a bit in a sense of what I do… I’m not putting on too much mass, but I don’t want to get heavier than I am right now.
“You will lose your speed (if you put on too much weight), and I’ll rather sacrifice a little bit of power to be super dynamic and fast and flashy. So no, I don’t want to bulk up.”
Lerena is ready for Dubois, but it’s out of his hands at the moment.
“Since Thursday (last week), we’ve heard nothing. The fight was proposed to us, we accepted the fight. What are you scared of? You can run, but you can’t hide. You can duck me, you can try to avoid me. But eventually, our paths will cross,” he said on Instagram.
“Daniel Dubois, I want the fight. I’ve accepted the fight. To you and your team – Shane McGuigan, you’ve got good trainers, you’ve got a good team behind you. What are you delaying? What are you scared of? What are you worried about? Your journey? Your career?
“Make the fight happen. Let’s go to war: 26 of November at the O2 Arena.”
Sport
