By Kevin Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
Kevin Lerena is back in the division where he believes he can become a world champion again.
A composed, punishing performance against Scott Forrest earned him the vacant WBC International Cruiserweight title, but the South African had to work for every round against an opponent who refused to fold.
Kevin Lerena had promised a war. Scott Forrest arrived prepared to give him one.
For ten rounds, the South African pressed, punished and repeatedly threatened to end their contest at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Forrest absorbed the punishment, kept coming forward and found ways to survive when the fight appeared to be slipping beyond his reach. In the ninth, Lerena finally put him on the canvas with a perfectly timed right hook. Forrest got up. He would not be stopped.
Lerena took the vacant WBC International Cruiserweight title by unanimous decision, the judges scoring it 97-92, 97-92 and 98-91. It was a convincing victory, but not a routine one. The former world champion had to draw on his experience and patience to deal with a man whose resilience became the defining feature of the fight.
This was Lerena’s first appearance at cruiserweight since 2020. After spells at heavyweight and bridgerweight, the 34-year-old had spent five months transforming his body, dropping from 107kg to make the division’s 90.7kg limit.
He weighed in at 90.20kg, having completed a demanding return to the weight class in which he previously became IBO world champion.
The work was evident from the opening bell. Lerena was sharper, stronger and more explosive, landing with considerably more authority than Forrest. He attacked the body, worked behind his jab and found opportunities for the heavy combinations that repeatedly left the Scottish fighter in trouble.
Yet Forrest, born in South Africa before moving to Scotland, had not travelled to make up the numbers. His amateur pedigree was considerable, and his professional record did not tell the full story. He kept his guard tight, stayed busy and refused to be intimidated by the power coming back at him.
Lerena was ahead after four rounds, with the judges scoring it 39-37, 40-36 and 40-36. The pattern continued. At the end of the fifth, a left and right combination had Forrest in trouble again. A heavy right hook in the closing seconds of the sixth left him wobbling, but the bell arrived in time.
Forrest smiled when he was caught, an unusual response to the punishment, and kept walking forward. Lerena could have become impatient. Instead, he chose his moments, aware that his opponent still had enough power to make a mistake costly.
After eight rounds, the WBC scorecards had Lerena ahead 78-74, 77-75 and 77-75. Two rounds remained, and Forrest still had a route back into the contest. Lerena took no chances with the lead. He continued to work the body, landed his jab and looked for openings.
Then came the last round. With a minute remaining, Lerena landed the right hook that finally sent Forrest to the floor. He went looking for the finish, but Forrest again showed his stubbornness and survived the final assault.
Lerena was quick to acknowledge the man who had made him work. “Firstly, listen, a round of applause for Scott Forrest, a tough competitor. Thank you, Scott,” he said after the fight.
His trainer, Peter Smith, had warned him from the beginning that Forrest would be difficult to break down. The preparation had been built around that reality. “He told me from the get-go of signing this fight, he said, Scott is going to be tough. He brings experience from the amateurs, and he’s going to be there all night, so you need to stay tight and take your time,” Lerena said. “He’s a very tough fighter, and a very tough fighter makes very few mistakes, so we have to capitalise on his mistakes.”
For Smith, the performance was as much about the discipline behind the victory as the result itself. He has trained Lerena since the boxer was 18, when others questioned whether the young fighter had the ability to make it.
“The dedication and the heart and discipline he has, no trainer can ask for more,” Smith said. “Scott made that fight inch by inch. I never underestimated you one bit. Look what happened, and this is why I’m so proud of Kevin because he showed every horsemanship of what a champion should be.”
Smith believes cruiserweight is where Lerena can make his strongest impression. “We experimented right up there in the world’s best in the heavyweights. This is where Kevin is most dangerous. He’s dangerous all around, but this is where we’re going to shine.”
The victory was also a personal milestone for Lerena, who had been on a two-fight losing streak before Saturday. He described the performance as one of the better displays of his career and spoke warmly of the team that helped him return to the division, including his nutritionist and conditioning staff.
The next target is already clear. Lerena said he is ranked sixth in the WBC cruiserweight standings and intends to position himself for another world title opportunity. “I’ve got an international belt now. I’m rated number six in the world in the WBC,” he said. “The division is hot, so I need to sit tight, I need to jockey for position, get myself on the fence, and wait for my shot.”
There is no guarantee of an immediate world title challenge, but Lerena has given himself a credible platform from which to pursue one. At cruiserweight, he looked powerful without sacrificing composure, and his ability to sustain pressure over 10 rounds was encouraging.
Forrest deserved his share of the applause. He took heavy punishment and kept fighting. But the night belonged to Lerena, whose return to the division has restored a sense of possibility to the next chapter of his career.