Kevin Lerena passed his first significant test as a heavyweight Saturday night, dropping Bogdan Dinu three times en route to a fourth round knockout win at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, South Africa.

Lerena, who resides in nearby Johannesburg, improves to 27-1 (14 knockouts).

After a successful run as a cruiserweight, one that saw him ranked amongst the top-10 in three of boxing’s major sanctioning bodies, the southpaw Lerena, a paramedic by trade, decided to make the move up to heavyweight several months ago. In his last bout in December 2020, Lerena stopped Patrick Ferguson in the fifth round.

Lerena was in control from the opening bell, utilizing his aggression to get on the inside and land thudding punches. Binu did stand his ground and fought back, but had to fight more defensively. In the third round, Lerena landed an incidental low blow, forcing Dinu to use the time allotted to recover. 

Later in the third, Lerena dropped Dinu to the canvas. Dinu was able to beat the count and fight back, but it was the beginning of the end for Dinu. 

With about a minute left in the fourth round, Lerena landed a barrage of punches, putting Dinu down to the canvas. Dinu did beat the count, but was still on shaky legs. Moments later, Lerena unleashed a right uppercut that missed, but followed it up with a hard, straight left hand that dropped Dinu to the canvas. Referee Jean-Robert Laine stopped the bout at 2:59.

Dinu, who resides in Bucharest, Romania, falls to 20-4 (16 KOs). He has now lost four of his last six bouts, with losses to Daniel Dubois, Jarrell Miller and Kubray Pulev. 

In the co-feature, Josh Pretorius of Durban defeated Juan Roux by unanimous decision. Scores were 118-110, 118-112, and 116-112 for Pretorius, who improves to 9-5 (5 KOs). 

Pretorius worked behind a consistent jab throughout most of the fight. The 28-year-old outboxed Roux during several exchanges and utilized decent ring generalship as well.

Roux, who resides in Cape Town, drops to 6-1 (2 KOs).

Junior middleweight prospect Shervantaigh Koopman battered Jami Webb, dropping him once and earning a knockout win after the fifth round.

Koopman, who resides in Pretoria, improves to 10-0 (7 KOs).

From the opening bell, Koopman landed the more-effective punches. Webb was game, but Koopman was the aggressor, connecting with several punches to the head that snapped Webb’s head several times. 

Koopman dropped Webb near the end of the third round. Webb was able to beat the count and barely made it out of the round, but Koopman continued to dominate the action. Webb continued to receive punishment, including in the fifth round. A barrage of punches forced referee Clifford Mbelu to step in and stop the fight at 1:42.

Webb, who resides in Cape Town, drops to 6-2 (3 KOs).

Middleweight Mbiya Kanke of the Democratic Republic of the Congo stopped Eastern Cape’s Phikelani Khumalo (4-1, 2 KOs) at 1:53 of the second round. Kanke improves to 9-5-1 (9 KOs).

In a clash between heavyweights residing in South Africa, Keaton Gomes improved to 7-2 (5 KOs) by stopping previously-unbeaten Shaun Potgieter (3-1, 2 KOs) at 1:20 in the opening round. 

The card was promoted by longtime South Africa promoter Rodney Berman.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing