By Jack Tiernan: WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs) had a close call tonight, needing to get up off the canvas on three separate occasions before getting his act together to TKO South African Kevin Lerena (28-2 114 KOs) in the third round on Saturday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
The southpaw Lerena knocked the much bigger 6’5″ Dubois down three times with left hands in the first round.
In the third round, Dubois dropped Lerena with a massive right hand to the head. Shortly after that, Dubois landed several big uppercuts to put Lerena on the canvas as the bell rang. The referee Howard Foster stopped the fight anyway.
Lerena had a chance to win if he’d gone for the finish in round two, as Dubois was still hurt as he came out. Instead of going for the KO, Lerena took his time, choosing to slowly follow and not unload with his left hand.
