Kevin “Two Guns” Lerena is happy to let a possible fight against Tommy Oosthuizen percolate over the next few months – he knows it’s good business.
For now, all his attention is on rehabilitating his shoulder, which underwent a major operation after his last fight. As one of the key tools in his arsenal, it was a priority that Lerena underwent repairs, not least because he aims to have a long career and the shoulder had long troubled him.
Not that the IBO cruiserweight champion is lying around in bed. His therapy includes intensive rehabilitation, so he’s putting in the work and just recently started light jogging. He also packs in loads of time on the watt bike.
He’ll hit the 12-week post-op mark in a month, after which he will move to the next phase of recovery.
“It is frustrating. I enjoy being active and not being able to fight is frustrating. But I’ll be back and better than ever,” he said.
He’ll continue to crank up the cardio and expects to be ready to move into the boxing gym around November.
“I should be ready to fight around February, especially as I’ll be keeping my cardio up. I want to defend my title . . . there are some opponents in mind.”
Having given Thabiso Mchunu the fight against Oosthuizen by a single point from ringside last weekend, he says a Mchunu rematch against Oosthuizen makes sense. He had it a draw going into the 12th round, with Mchunu dominating the last.
“It was a good, close fight. They will make adjustments for the rematch and it will be very difficult for both the second time around.”
Naturally, if Oosthuizen prevails, talk after December will swing to the possibility of him fighting Lerena.
That prospect is too far off for Lerena to be swept up by the hype, however. He has a big enough challenge on his hands right now.
