Kevin Lerena vs Ryad Merhy Preview May 30th, 2026
WBC Bridgerweight Champion Kevin Lerena of South Africa meets former WBA Cruiserweight Champion Ryad Merhy of Ivory Coast in a rematch in Belgium this Saturday, May 30th. The two first met in May 2023 with Lerena pounding out a 12-round unanimous decision. Lerena last fought in July when he dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Lawrence Okolie in a shot at the WBC Silver Heavyweight Title. In his previous outing two months earlier Lerena halted Serhiy Radchenko in the third round to defend the WBC Bridgerweight (224 lbs) Title. He won the interim belt with a unanimous decision over Senad Gashi in November, 2023 and was made the full champion when Okolie vacated the belt to move up to heavyweight. Merhy was last in the ring in October when he stopped Gora Niang in the second round.
Lerena vs Merhy Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Ryad Merhy +121
- Kevin Lerena -155
My Pick
Lerena is a 34-year-old southpaw who climbs through the ropes with a mark of 31-4 with 15 Ko’s and has boxed 242 rounds since making his pro debut in 2011. He measures 6-feet-1-inch with a 74-inch reach and as far as power goes, he’s just below average as 48.4 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage and just one of his last five victories has been by stoppage. However he did drop current WBO Heavyweight Champion Daniel Dubois three times in the first round in 2022 before being halted by TKO in the third round.
The first defeat on Lerena’s pro record came at the hands of Johnny Muller in 2014 by way of a 10-round unanimous decision. He was then stopped by Dubois and he also dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Justis Huni in March, 2024 in a shot at the vacant WBO Global Heavyweight Title. Lerena’s biggest wins have come against Muller in a rematch as well as Senad Gashi, Merhy, Roberto Bolonti, Micki Nielson, Youri Kalenga, Dmytro Kucher, Artur Mann, Sefer Seferi, Firat Arslan, Bogdan Dinu and Mariusz Wach.
Lerena may be relatively unknown in most parts of the world but he is an accomplished boxer with fine skills. Since turning pro, he’s also won the vacant WBA Inter-Continental Heavyweight Belt as well as the WBC Youth Silver, WBF African, South African and Pan African Cruiserweight Titles. He also captured the vacant IBO World Cruiserweight Title, which he then defended six times before moving up to the heavyweight division.
Merhy is 33 years old and fights out of Brussels, Belgium. He’s boxed 194 rounds since making his pro debut in 2013 and climbs into the ring with a mark of 35-3 with 29 Ko’s. He’s just over 5-feet-11-inches tall with an unlisted reach, so gives up 1.5-inches in height to Lerena. Merhy has fought most of his career as a cruiserweight before moving up in weight in 2022. As far as power is concerned, Merhy possesses quite a bit of it as 82.9 per cent of his wins have come by way of stoppage including his last three.
He captured the vacant WBC International Silver Cruiserweight Title in 2015 and added the vacant WBA Inter-Continental Belt the next year and defended it three times before being stopped by Arsen Goulamirian in the 11th round in a shot at the interim WBA Cruiserweight Crown in 2018. He then managed to win the interim belt by halting Imre Szello in seven rounds in October, 2019.
In 2021, Merhy stopped Zhaoxin Zhang in the eighth round to take the WBA World Cruiserweight Title, but then moved up to the heavyweight division. His second defeat came at the hands of Lerena and his last loss was to Jared Anderson by way of a 10-round unanimous decision in 2024 in a shot at the WBC USA, and WBO International Heavyweight Titles.
Merhy has fought mainly in Belgium and France throughout his career against European-level competition. However his biggest win came against Olympic medalist Tony Yoka via a 10-round split decision in 2023 when he outworked him despite giving up eight inches in reach. Merhy also has wins over Williams Ocando, Mas Alexander, Mitch Williams, Nick Kisner, Demetrius Banks and Samuel Clarkson.
Prediction…
Lerena has faced some decent opponents during his career and he beat Mery by scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113 the first time around. Both men have been stopped once but still have pretty solid chins. Merhy has the advantage of fighting at home this time around as the first meeting was held in South Africa. I’m expecting this to be a close fight that likely goes the distance. This may make it a bit difficult for Lerena to get a decision in Belgium but I think he’ll do just enough to pull it out.
Lerena possesses slightly better skills while Merhy has the edge in power.
Play: Lerena -155 @ BetOnline.ag
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Kevin Lerena betting • Ryad Merhy betting