WBC bridgerweight world champion Kevin Lerena defends his title in a rematch with Ryad Merhy at the Hall des Expositions in Charleroi, Belgium on May 30. Lerena (31-4, 15 KOs) makes the second defense of his 224-pound belt. However, the South African’s world title showdown follows an unsuccessful rendezvous at heavyweight, losing a wide unanimous decision to Lawrence Okolie at Wembley Stadium last July.
The WBC mandated Lerena to defend his belt early this year, with Belgian promoter Alain Vanackere able to negotiate a deal to lure the defending champion to Merhy’s adopted backyard without purse bids being needed. The 33-year-old Ivorian fighting out of Brussels first collided with Lerena in May 2023, losing a unanimous-decision in Kempton Park, South Africa, in a world title eliminator.
Despite the loss, Merhy (35-3, 29 KOs) would rebound with a victory at heavyweight against Frenchman Tony Yoka in Paris six months later. Merhy would lose in his next heavyweight contest against Jared Anderson in Corpus Christi, but he has since gone three fights unbeaten, although against much lesser opposition in Belgium, forcing a mandatory shot at Lerena.
“I’m looking forward to defending my WBC title and taking care of business,” Lerena said in an exclusive interview with Boxing Social. “I’m looking to knock him out to be honest. I want to stop him and then get on another big card. Hopefully a Ring card, maybe the next Tyson Fury card.”
Lerena travelled to Thailand to help former two-time heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury as a sparring partner for his recent victory against Arslanbek Makhmudov. Having originally campaigned at cruiserweight, the 33-year-old southpaw has had mixed results when stepping into boxing’s most lucrative weight class. Lerena defeated European contenders Bogdan Dinu and Mariusz Wach in a good start to life at heavyweight. However, a third-round stoppage against Daniel Dubois on the Fury vs Derek Chisora 3 undercard followed. Lerena has since had three successful outings at bridgerweight, with another loss at heavyweight in between, a much closer unanimous decision against Justis Huni in Saudi Arabia.
“To be honest with you, I plan to campaign wherever the best fights are and where the best fights are to be made for me,” Lerena said in answer to his preferred weight class. “That means: bridgerweight, heavyweight or cruiserweight. Cruiserweight will be a bit difficult to make, but definitely at heavyweight there are some big fights to be made. Lerena against the Huni, Lerena against [Richard] Riakporhe. There are so many big fight to be made. I lost in my last fight at heavyweight on points in an eliminator against Okolie, but it was just a bad night for me.”
The division where Lerena holds a world title is the newest weight class in boxing. The 224-pound weight class acts as a bridge between cruiserweight and heavyweight, drawing comparisons to cruiserweight, which was invented by the WBC in 1979. The WBC is also the pioneer of bridgerweight, creating the division in 2020. The WBA have followed in recognizing the new division, but the IBF, WBO and Boxrec are yet to get on board.
“It’s a good thing,” Lerena said of bridgerweight. “There are a lot of belts at the moment and a lot of belts on the line from all the different organizations, but the most important thing is for a fighter to stay winning. When you are winning and you are winning well, you push your share price right up.”