A third heavyweight fight has been secured for the March 8 ‘Knockout Chaos’ card.
BoxingScene.com that plans are in place for unbeaten prospect Justis Huni to face former secondary WBA heavyweight title challenger Kevin Lerena on the already announced show from Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The scheduled ten-round will serve in supporting capacity to the Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou crossover clash.
Huni-Lerena also joins an undercard that includes the Zhilei Zhang-Joseph Parker interim heavyweight title fight.
Huni (8-0, 5KOs) was always poised to appear on the show, though his opponent remained unknown for weeks. The 24-year-old from Brisbane fought just once in 2023, a ten-round shutout of Andrew Tabiti last October 28 in Cancun, Mexico. The two were due to meet last June 17 on the Regis Prograis Danielito Zorrilla card in New Orleans, but Huni was forced to postpone after he suffered a torn ligament less than weeks from the fight date.
The placement on this show will mark Huni’s second straight fight away from Australia.
Lerena (30-2, 14KOs) previously eyed a run at the WBC Bridgerweight title, as he currently holds the interim version of the belt. His move up will not affect his standing in that regard, as heavyweight bouts do not impact the WBC-excluslve Bridgerweight rankings.
The 31-year-old South African southpaw has won two straight bouts since a third-round stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois after nearly pulling off a major upset. Lerena floored London’s Dubois three times in the opening round, but was down twice himself prior to a stoppage defeat in their December 2022 bout in North London.
A modest weight loss from his 230 ¾-pound mark in that fight saw Lerena thrive in points wins over former cruiserweight titlist Ryad Merhy last May and Senad Gashi last November 25. Both bouts took place at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, which has housed all but nine of his 32 pro bouts. Lerena’s upcoming bout versus Huni will mark the sixth country in which he’s fought but first career fight in the Middle East.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox