News broke last week that newly crowned WBA “world” heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois was looking to make his inaugural defense against Lucas Browne, only for “Big Daddy” to reveal almost immediately that the BBBofC refused to sanction the fight on account of his age. There are many more compelling reasons to can that fight than just Browne’s age, but at least they canned it.
The hunt for a new opponent didn’t last long, as Salvador Rodriguez revealed yesterday that no. 13 Kevin Lerena had accepted an offer to face “Dynamite” on November 26th. Per Mike Coppinger, the pair are “finalizing a deal” to meet in the UK, though it could land in December instead.
South Africa’s Lerena (28-1, 14 KO), unbeaten since a later-avenged 2014 loss to Johnny Muller, was a fairly accomplished cruiserweight with wins over Youri Kayembre Kalenga, Dmytro Kucher, and our old pal Sefer Seferi. He moved up after a 2020 decision over Firat Arslan and has since posted wins over Patrick Ferguson, Bogdan Dinu, and Mariusz Wach.
For the record, he weighed around 230 for those last two.
From where I’m sitting, he’s a much better opponent than Browne, whose out-of-nowhere knockout of Junior Fa was his first impressive accomplishment in years. Dubois (18-1, 17 KO) will still rightfully be heavy favorite, but at least this matchup is a fight and not euthanasia.