Key events
Round 1: Off the bat, we see Lerena’s issue: there’s a distance from which Dubois can hit and not be hit. Lerena can steam in, or try and elude the jab, but WHAT ON EARTH AM I TALKING ABOUT, BECAUSE LERENA CATCHES DUBOIS! Dubois lands a shot, then Lerena seems to stick him on top of the head, Dubois goes down, Lerena keeps on him, knocks him down twice more, and Dubois’ corner have a lot of work to do! What a round for the underdog! Guardian score: Dubios 8-10 Lerena
And off we go!
Dubois’ gown is niiiice, black with sparkles and not unlike Nigel Benn’s finest rig.
…and here comes Dubois!
Righto, here comes Lerena…
I love listening to boxers breaking stuff down, and we’ve currently got Lennox, David Haye and Carl Frampton talking about the need – Dubois’ need – to relax. Haye tells us that before he went out, he’d watch Lennox to remind himself to relax, and Lennox says that George Foreman was forever saying he needed to jab more. Frampton then puts hands up to show the difference between a tight fighter and one fluid and relaxed – as he was – and the chemical miracle of people who can totally override the adrenaline of being in a ruck to slow everything down is just mind-boggling.
Lerena has come up to heavy from cruiser and this is his fourth fight at the weight. His career record is 14-0, and he knows what he’s doing, but he’ll need to keep out the road of Dubois, who is the much bigger and more powerful man. He’s come on a lot since losing to Joe Joyce – and kudos to him for knowing when enough was enough – and we’re seeing footage of his dressing room right now, in which Shane McGuigan is reminding him to stick behind his jab. If he can, and set up his big back hand, he’s got every chance of winning tonight.
Yup, Berinchyk has UD’d Mendy, so let’s get back to Lerena v Dubois…
Gordon Ramsey is in the crowd. Imagine he idiot sandwiched someone and it turned out they had hands.
Currently, we’re watching Yvan Mendy of USA against Denys Berinchyk of Ukraine in a lightweight bout. They’re in the 12th of 12 and Berinchyk looks set for a points win to me, in what’s been a bit of a messy scrap. But coming up next we’ve got what should be a barnburner: Kevin Lerena v Daniel Dubois, for the WBA (regular) heavyweight title.
Of course, we might still get that Fury v Joshua chat – if I’m the latter, I’m delaying as long as possible to improve as much as I can, and formulate the perfect strategy. And even if we don’t, the prospect of Fury taking on Oleksandr Usyk is extremely enticing … though I can’t overstate enough that all it takes is one badabing of a shot from Chisora, and we’re having different conversations entirely.
Preamble
It can be hard not to think the international community needs to come together and institute international law to ensure that we see the fights we need to see, when we need to see them. Because, if we’re being real, the plan for this slot was us watching Tyson Fury avoiding– or not avoiding – bombs, while standing Anthony Joshua on his head .
But instead we’re getting Fury v Chisora III, which should also be a lot of fun – so let’s dive in. Fury leads the series 2-0 and is, for my money, the world’s best heavyweight since Lennox Lewis – another who’d have benefitted from Geneva, the Hague and all the other lads getting involved to ensure he fought Riddick Bowe when both were at their peak. But ultimately, no one has the right to compel anyone to take that walk and Lewis still has Razor Ruddock, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitchko on his resume, whereas Fury has Wladimir Klitchko, Deontay Wilder, and not loads else.
Nevertheless he remains a brilliant boxer, the skills of a lifetime’s experience backed up by serious power and unfathomable mental strength. I’m sure Chisora has a plan for dealing with that – I’ve no idea what it might be because Fury looks impregnable. However, this is heavyweight boxing and, as Lewis can testify, sometimes, mad stuff just happens.
Ring walks: 9.15pm GMT