Briton Daniel Dubois (18-1, 17 KOs) will most likely make his first defense of the WBA World heavyweight title against South African Kevin Lerena (28-1, 14 KOs). The fight is scheduled for November 26 in the UK, but could still be rescheduled for December, according to columnist Mike Coppinger.
Recall that initially the Australian veteran and former holder of this title, Lucas Brown, was supposed to become Dubois’ rival. However, the British Boxing Control Board banned the fight, citing the too respectful age of 43-year-old Brown.
30-year-old Lerena is known for his performances in the cruiserweight (up to 90.7 kg), where he boxed until February 2020 and held the IBO world title for more than two years. He has successful defenses in fights against Dmitry Kucher, Roman Golovashchenko, Firat Arslan and others.
Since the end of 2020, Kevin has been competing in the heavyweight category. He completely missed 2021, and in 2022 he already beat Bogdan Dina and Mariusz Wach.
Dubois, 25, won his title in June with a 4th-round knockout of Trevor Bryan.