Comment by Ashfak Mohamed
Hearing that Kevin Lerena will be defending his WBC bridgerweight title on May 1 in Pretoria brought back fond memories of a previous South African boxing champion.
Thulani ‘Sugar Boy’ Malinga made history in 1996 when he became the first South African to win a WBC belt.
At a pumping Telewest Arena in Newcastle, Malinga – who was 40 at the time – dethroned Britain’s Nigel Benn in an epic bout to claim the WBC super middleweight crown.
Despite a fifth-round knockdown, Malinga used his trademark left jab to good effect, and was rewarded with a split decision that most objective observers would agree should have been unanimous.
It was especially memorable for the Ladysmith, KZN fighter as Malinga had previously lost to Benn in a 10-round bout in Birmingham in May 1992.
In fact, the South African had two title fights before 1996, losing to Chris Eubank for the WBO super middleweight belt in Birmingham in February 1992, and Lindell Holmes for the IBF version in December 1990 in Italy.
Add in a sixth-round knockout at the hands of Roy Jones Junior in August 1993 in Mississippi, and Malinga would’ve been extra determined to prove to the world that he can be a champion boxer.
In some ways, Lerena is in a similar boat ahead of his WBC bridgerweight title fight against Ukraine’s Serhiy Radchenko at the Sunbet Arena in Pretoria on May 1.
The 32-year-old Lerena was awarded the bridgerweight – which is a weight between cruiserweight and heavyweight – belt last October after champion Lawrence Okolie vacated the title, having become the mandatory challenger.
But having dominated the cruiserweight division for many years and defending his IBO title multiple times, Lerena has had a difficult introduction to the heavyweight division in recent years.
He lost a WBA (Regular) title bout against Daniel Dubois at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London in December 2022, and then went down to Justis Huni in Riyadh last year March for the vacant WBO Global heavyweight title – having had to endure the passing of his mother Belinda the day before.
Of course, Lerena had Dubois on the ropes in the initial stages of their London fight, and was somewhat unfortunate to be handed a third-round TKO defeat.
But he’s won his last two bridgerweight contests, against Ryad Merhy and Senad Gashi, and pulling off a WBC title defence on May 1 could just reopen those heavyweight doors once more.
That is where he can gain some inspiration from Malinga, who lost his first WBC title defence to Italian Vincenzo Nardiello in Manchester in July 1996, before returning to England the following year to defeat Robin Reid and reclaim the belt in London in December 1997 at the age of 42.
Malinga relinquished his title to Richie Woodhall in Telford in March 1998 on a unanimous points decision, but didn’t stop there as he won the WBF super middleweight crown against Fredrik Alvarez in Copenhagen just over two months later, and ended with a 44-13 record (with 19 KOs).
So, all is not lost for Lerena on the heavyweight front, if he wishes to dish it out with the big boys going forward, or keeps going in the bridgerweight division.
But he is a go-getter who has almost single-handedly kept South African boxing in the limelight over the last few years with his Dubois bout, as well as being a sparring partner for Tyson Fury a number of times.
Let’s hope that Lerena (30-3, 14 KOs) – who is renowned for his work ethic in training in building up to his fights – can still carry the flag for South African boxing over the next few years.