‘Two Guns’ last fought in current division in 2020

Cruiserweight Kevin “Two Guns” Lerena, fierce and competitive on fight night, is widely regarded as amiable and charismatic outside the boxing ring, something much in evidence on Sunday, when 90 people joined him for a fun run.

He is trained by Peter Smith, a former heavyweight boxer whose father, Kosie Smith, was a three-time SA light heavyweight champion in the 1970s.

Smith and Lerena are hard at work preparing for their WBC International cruiserweight title fight against Scott Forrest on November 7.

Nicknamed “Ferocious”, Forrest was born in South Africa to British parents before moving to Scotland when he was five years old.

The fight will be staged by Lerena’s wife and promoter Geraldine, co-founder of Aquila Boxing Promotions, at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

“I am feeling good,” said Lerena. “I have lost a lot of excess weight and I am ready for the fight. It’s a tough fight in a sense that I have not fought at cruiserweight for a very long time.”

Lerena’s last fight in that weight class, between 79,38kg and 91,16kg, was in 2020, when he successfully defended his IBO belt with a sixth-round stoppage of Firat Arslan.

He then moved up to the heavyweights, with weights upwards of 91.16kg, where he won the WBA Intercontinental belt before losing in a WBA world title fight to Daniel Dubois in 2022 in front of 90,000 fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

Lerena subsequently moved down to the bridgerweight division. Promoted by veteran Golden Gloves promoter Rodney Berman, the southpaw defeated Ryad Merhy by unanimous decision in 2023 to take the vacant WBC Silver bridgerweight title at Emperors Palace.

Lerena, who was elevated to WBC bridgerweight world champion in 2024 after Lawrence Okolie relinquished his belt, lost it to Merhy on May 31 2026, at the Hall de Expositions in Charleroi, in Belgium.

Lerena is currently rated No 6 by the WBC in the cruiserweight division.

“People are gonna come and watch the Kevin Lerena show,” said his wife Geraldine. “We also have good prospects in our card. I am grateful to all the supporters of boxing, all the people who bought tickets.”

Lerena, a qualified helicopter pilot, is also a former race jockey, and is qualified as an emergency medical practitioner.