South Africa’s WBC bridgerweight champion, Kevin Lerena, won the hearts of more than 5000 boxing fans at the SunBet Arena at Time Square, Pretoria, on Labour Day when he kept his promise to make short work of his Ukrainian challenger, Serhiy Radchenko.
In doing so, Lerena successfully defended his WBC bridgerweight title for the first time.
The champion emphasized earlier this week during the first press conference and again during the weigh-in session on Wednesday that he is in good shape and he described himself as a “different beast”, after which he promised his supporters that with this fight he will show that he is a worthy bearer of the championship belt.
On Thursday night, he put his words into action when he forced Radchenko to surrender in the third round of their fight and won surprisingly easily by TKO.
The two boxers did not back down and showed that they were eager for action from the start of the first round. Although Lerena had not been in the ring for 14 months, he looked exceptionally sharp and much stronger than in the past.
Things started to go badly wrong for the Ukrainian in the second round, when Lerena landed him on his buttocks with a brilliant left hook.
He got up and survived the referee’s count of eight, but although he fought on, it was clear he was shaken. Then Lerena hit him again with that powerful left and again he had to survive the count of eight.
After landing on the canvas for the third time in the second round, most spectators thought the fight was over, but Radchenko showed great courage by continuing to fight and staying standing until the bell temporarily saved him.
Early in the third round, however, it was clear that the visitor would be hurt if he had to endure further blows and just as he landed on his knees again after a barrage of blows from the champion, his corner threw in the towel.
Eventually Lerena was simply too strong for his Eastern European opponent. He dominated Radchenko from the first minute of their fight and it soon became clear that the fight was unlikely to last 12 rounds.
While there may be doubts about the Ukrainian’s standard in terms of world standards after his performance, Lerena should be given the benefit of the doubt. However, the fact remains that Radchenko has never travelled further than Russia, Poland and Kazakhstan for a professional boxing tournament before this fight. Eleven of his 18 previous fights were against fellow Ukrainians, four against Polish opponents, two against Russians and one against a boxer from Kazakhstan.
Lerena and his supporters in the SunBet Arena got a surprise shortly before the fight, when superstar and former holder of all the major heavyweight titles, Tyson Fury, sent a special message to the South African via video link, which was shown on the big screens in the venue.
Photo: Dirk Heyns
Photo: Dirk Heyns
It is known that Lerena and Fury became friends after sparring against each other in 2022 in preparation for a tournament in Britain in which they were both involved.
* Thursday’s tournament, dubbed “The Reckoning” by Legacy Boxing Promotion, provided spectators with an abundance of exciting boxing action.
Thursday’s tournament, dubbed “The Reckoning” by Legacy Boxing Promotion, provided spectators with an abundance of exciting boxing action.
The two local Pretoria boxers had mixed success on the “Day Card”. Former St Alban’s College pupil, JP Kganane, was unfortunately stopped in the third round of his fight against Edward Nyaba.
Jabulani Makhence made up for it by defeating former WBF African welterweight champion, Maiala Antonio, of Angola, with a points victory.
* Although two of the fights on the “Main Card” were a disappointment, the rest of the action more than made up for it.
– Former SA heavyweight champion Chris Thompson was probably just as disappointed with the onslaught of his Malawian opponent, Mussa Ajibu. The latter never really wanted to box and seemed to show up just for another payday. Thompson eventually sent him off with a TKO in the third round.
– Top-rated former WBC Silver Cruiserweight champion Thabiso Mchunu’s fight against Amador Kalonji of the DRC was an equally disappointing one. Neither of the two boxers could get out of first gear in the eight rounds of their duel and their plodding ultimately ended in a split decision victory for Mchunu.
– The rest of the Main Card’s action was outstanding. The Super Middleweight fight between two rookies, Gary van Standen and Seth van Aswegen, had the crowd on their feet for the full four rounds. Van Aswegen showed great courage and stood his ground until the end, but Van Staden deserved his point’s victory.
– The bantamweight fight between Tietsetso Matikinca and Mbulelo Gubula also lasted only two rounds when the former knocked out his opponent.
– In another Super Middleweight fight, another newcomer, the flamboyant Leo Careri, knocked out his opponent, Niclas Nzengu of the DRC, in the first round. Despite his showmanship, Careri is a very promising boxer with lightning-fast, accurate hands.
– Tulani Mbenge’s Namibian opponent, Emmanuel Mungandjela, started well but the IBO World Welterweight champion from South Africa was simply in a different class. He sent Mungandjela to the canvas in the third round for the victory.
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