Kevin ‘The KO Kid’ Lerena will travel to Belgium in May where he has a date with Ryad Merhy in the second defence of his World Boxing Council (WBC) bridgerweight title.
This fight will take place on Saturday, 30 May, which is going to be exactly 25 days after Lerena, a former South Africanand International Boxing Organisation (IBO) cruiserweight champion, had celebrated his 34th birthday.
“It’s official, May 30th, it’s time to go to work. All the paperwork is signed and sealed. I will be defending my WBC world title and as the champion I’m heading across the pond to Belgium to defend the green and gold against my mandatory challenger Ryad Merhy,” Lerena wrote on his Facebook page.
This is a rematch of the May 2023 fight, which was a WBC bridgerweight elimination bout that was won by Lerena at the Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni.
“Since then Ryad has put together some solid wins and earned his position for a shot at my WBC world title. Respect where it’s due, but when the bell rings, respect stays in the corner. The result will be the same, only this time it will be louder, cleaner and in better fashion,” Lerena remarked.
The 33-year-old Merhy, who was born in Ivory Coast and is now based in Brussels, has registered four wins and one loss since losing to Lerena almost three years ago.
