Kevin Lerena vs Ryad Merhy

These two are equally matched. Their first fight in South Africa ended in a unanimous decision win for Lerena with scores of 110-118, 112-116, 113-115. Merhy returned to action 7 months later in Paris, defeating local Olympic gold medallist Tony Yoka by split decision at heavyweight. He then travelled to the USA and lost a wide decision defeat to Jared Anderson. Three low-level wins followed, leading to this rematch. Lerena has losses to Daniel Dubois (TKO-3), Justis Huni (L-UD), Lawrence Okolie (L-UD), and Johnny Muller (L-UD) in an early career fight. Both are small heavyweights, so they have disadvantages against the behemoths at the top of boxing’s blue ribbon division. Both are 33 years old, but I feel that Merhy may be the fresher of the two and with home advantage can reverse the result of their first meeting