At the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa’s Kevin Lerena thrilled the fans with a violent third-round stoppage of an overmatched Serhiy Radchenko.
After more than a year of inactivity, Lerena controlled every second of the bout and moves to 31-3 (15 KOs) while Radchenko falls to 11-8 (5 KOs).
Kevin Lerena controlled every second of the bout (Pic – Kevin Lerena on FB)
The Johannesburg-born Kevin Lerena, played to the crowd throughout the fight and was rewarded with thrilled cheers.
Lerena controlled the first round with his jab, occasionally landing a power punch combination that peeled down Radchenko’s high guard.
Aside from a sharp left hook to the body and the odd straight punch, Radchenko summoned little offense in return.
A huge left hook pushed Radchenko into the ropes in the second round, then an even harder version of the same punch dropped him hard seconds later.
Visibly buzzed and surprised, Radchenko gamely got to his feet and clinched to buy time.
It was all in vain as yet another left hook dropped Radchenko onto his back. He rose once more, against the odds, and somehow survived the round.
The referee could have stopped the fight and Radchenko’s corner should have, but the Ukrainian came out for the third round.
A combination from Lerena sent Radchenko crumbling to his knees, at which point the towel came flying in at long last.
Lerena’s claim to fame is knocking down Daniel Dubois, who will fight for the undisputed heavyweight title in July, three times in the first round of their 2022 meeting. Dubois then came back to stop Lerena in the third round.
Lerena called out Fabio Wardley after the fight, calling out “bridgerweights, heavyweights.”
