Kevin Lerena to face Bogdan Dinu on February 26, at heavyweight

Kevin Lerena (right) goes after Patrick Ferguson. Photo by Droeks Malan

Dec

The Ring’s No. 5-ranked cruiserweight is seemingly sticking around at heavyweight.

Kevin “Two Guns” Lerena will make his second outing in boxing’s “glamour division” against Romania’s Bogdan Dinu in a scheduled 12-round main event, February 26, at Emperor’s Palace in Lerena’s hometown of Gauteng, South Africa.

Lerena’s debut at heavyweight was in December of last year, when he stopped Patrick Ferguson in five rounds. [Editor’s note: Although Lerena-Ferguson was considered a “bridgerweight” contest, said division is unrecognized by the IBF, WBA, WBO and The Ring, thus far.]

During his campaign at cruiserweight, Lerena (26-1, 13 knockouts) made six defenses of the IBO belt. While the belt is unrecognized by The Ring, the 29-year-old has been ranked by the publication for nearly four years.

Lerena was forced to overcome adversity in November 2018 when he tested positive for a banned substance during a random drug test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. However the IBO cleared Lerena of any wrongdoing several months later. He has continued his winning ways following the reversal, as four of his last five bouts have ended in stoppage victories.

Lerena, a southpaw, will get a taste of what heavyweight power feels like against the 35-year-old Dinu (20-3, 16 KOs), who has been knocked out in all of his defeats. However those losses came against Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, Kubrat Pulev and Daniel Dubois.

“I want to do it for [South Africa],” he told Times Live. “I want to shock the world and, mark my word, I will become a well-known heavyweight in the boxing world.”

A pair of South African heavyweights have made their mark in the sport. Gerrie Coetzee won the WBA heavyweight title in September 1983 with a 10th-round knockout victory of Michael Dokes in a bout that won KO Magazine’s “Upset of the Year” honors. Furthermore the late Corrie Sanders scored a second-round knockout over former Ring champion and Hall-of-Famer Wladimir Klitschko in The Ring Magazine’s Upset of the Year for 2003.

Lerena wants to bring that same kinetic energy to the heavyweight division.

“I want to be explosive,” he added. “[I have] a big task ahead of me. It is a risk, however, one I am willing to explore. I weigh around [225 pounds] and I believe you will see an explosive and very strong Kevin Lerena [against Dinu].

“There is no weight cutting. I am here to shock the world. I want to do it for [South Africa]. The heavyweight division is the pinnacle of boxing.”

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