New heavyweight Kevin Lerena has got that ’Mike Tyson build’, says Rodney Berman

By Iqbal Khan

Durban - A double-header heavyweight blockbuster awaits fight fans on March 26 when Golden Gloves stage two title fights at the home of boxing, Emperors Palace in Johannesburg.

Fights fans will be glued to their sets on March 16 after tickets for the evening were sold out within hours of going on sale.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic an allocation of 1 000 tickets were on sale and these was snapped up swiftly. SuperSport will bring the live action to the screens of millions throughout the country on the night.

“It’s going to be a night to remember,” claimed an excited Rodney Berman, head of Golden Gloves who has brought South Africa some mouth-watering bouts for many decades.

“Never before have fight fans seen heavyweights going toe to toe here in this country since the days of the late Corrie Sanders. And if you go further back to the days of the likes of Gerrie Coetzee, Kallie Knoetze, Mike Schutte, Pierre Coetzer, Frans Botha, Robbie Williams, Mike Koranicki – all who had South Africans crying for more of the same.”

Berman, the equivalent of Don King in the United States, has South Africa’s exciting Kevin Lerena taking on Romanian Bogdan Dinu for the vacant WBA Inter-continental title over 12 rounds. And if that’s not enough to whet the appetite of the fight fans, Berman also has a 12-round South African heavyweight title fight between the reigning champion Juan Roux of Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal’s Joshua Pretorius.

According to Berman, Lerena who has stepped up from the cruiserweight division, is one of the most exciting heavyweights around and could follow in the footsteps of former world champion, Gerrie Coetzee.

“He’s got style and swagger. He’s got the Mike Tyson built and fights like a tiger. I