A date has been set for Kevin Lerena’s first defence of his World Boxing Council (WBC) bridgerweight title here in South Africa in just over two months’ time.
Lerena was confirmed as a fully-fledged WBC bridgerweight champion after former titlist Lawrence Okolie wrote to the organisation saying that he was moving up to the heavyweight division in October last year.
The 32-year-old Lerena is now scheduled to face off against Ukrainian boxer Serhiy Radchenko in his first title defence at Pretoria’s SunBet Arena on Workers’ Day.
“I’m excited to confirm that Lerena is gonna defend his WBC title against Radchenko from Ukraine at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria on the first of May. It’s gonna be a landmark achievement to see a South African boxer defending his WBC world title on South African soil,” Legacy Boxing Promotions’ Dewald Mostert confirmed.
The 37-year-old Radchenko is the current WBC Silver bridgerweight champion whose record stands at 11 victories with five stoppages and seven losses. The former Ukrainian cruiserweight champion has won his last four fights, which came after five straight defeats.
Meanwhile, International Boxing Organisation (IBO) welterweight titlist Thulani Mbenge and his stablemate Thabiso Mchunu, an SA cruiserweight champion, are likely to feature in this tournament.
Mbenge might make the first defence of his IBO title while KwaXimba-born Mchunu may fight for an African Boxing Union (ABU) crown. Mbenge won the IBO title after he outpointed Michael McKinson in England last October while Mchunu lost to Russian boxer Muslim Gamzatovich Gazhimagomedov in Russia last month. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
This is going to be a walkover for Larena. He never fought a worthy opponent. Rather let him defend it against Thomas Oosthuizen.