Who won Lerena vs Merhy?
Kevin Lerena beat Ryad Merhy by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest on Saturday 13th May 2023 at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park.
The scorecards were announced as 118-110, 116-112, 115-113 in favor of winner Kevin Lerena.
The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Heavyweight division, which meant there was no weight limit.
Lerena vs Merhy stats
Back in May 2023, Kevin Lerena stepped into the ring with a record of 28 wins, 2 loses and 0 draws.
Ryad Merhy made his way to the ring with a record of 31 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws.
Kevin Lerena was the same age as Ryad Merhy, at 31 years old.
Lerena had a height advantage of 2 inches over Merhy. That also extended to a 3-inch reach advantage.
Kevin Lerena fought out of the southpaw stance, while Ryad Merhy was an orthodox fighter.
Lerena was arguably the more experienced fighter, having had 2 less fights, and made his debut in 2011, 1 year and 6 months earlier than Merhy, whose first professional fight was in 2013. He had fought 52 more professional rounds, 229 to Merhy's 177.
Lerena vs Merhy form
Lerena had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 3 of them, going the distance once.
In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Daniel Dubois on 3rd December 2022 by technical knockout in the 3rd round in their WBA World Heavyweight championship fight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, United Kingdom.
Previous to that, he had defeated Mariusz Wach on 17th September 2022 by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest at Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa.
Going into that contest, he had beat Bogdan Dinu on 26th March 2022 by knockout in the 4th round at Emperors Palace, Gauteng.
Before that, he had won against Patrick Ferguson on 19th December 2020 by technical knockout in the 5th round at Emperors Palace, Gauteng.
He had beat Firat Arslan on 8th February 2020 by technical knockout in the 6th round at EWS Arena, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Merhy had won 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 4 of them, going the distance once.
In his last fight before this contest, he had defeated Zhaoxin Zhang on 17th July 2021 by technical knockout in the 8th round in their WBA World Cruiserweight championship fight at Bruxelles-Capitale, Bruxelles-Capitale, Belgium.
Previous to that, he had defeated Imre Szello on 19th October 2019 by knockout in the 7th round in their WBA Interim World Cruiserweight championship fight at Spiroudome Arena, Hainaut.
Going into that contest, he had won against Cesar David Crenz on 4th May 2019 by knockout in the 3rd round at Spiroudome Arena, Hainaut.
Before that, he had defeated Samuel Clarkson on 15th December 2018 by knockout in the 4th round at Spiroudome Arena, Hainaut.
He had beat Demetrius Banks on 20th October 2018 by unanimous decision in their 8 round contest at Country Hall de Liège, Liege.
Activity check
In terms of activity leading into the fight, Kevin Lerena had been fighting more than Ryad Merhy.
Going to this contest, Kevin Lerena had last fought 5 months and 10 days ago, while Ryad Merhy's last outing had been 1 year, 9 months and 26 days ago.
Lerena's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 3 months and 5 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 7 months and 26 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 30 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 6 rounds on average.
Merhy's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 6 months and 23 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 10 months and 29 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 30 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 6 rounds on average.
What time did Lerena vs Merhy start?
The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 9:00 PM UTC at Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa, which was 5:00 PM EST or 2:00 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 10:00 PM BST in the UK.
What were the odds on Lerena vs Merhy?
Kevin Lerena was a 2/5 (-250) favourite going into the contest, while Ryad Merhy made his way into the ring at 15/8 (+190) with oddsmakers.
