The proverb “Money makes the world go round” means money is the driving force behind society. It implies that financial considerations frequently take precedence over other values, including history, which involves analysing evidence to understand changes over time, chronological events or a person’s background.
It helps explain how past actions influence the present and future, but history alone cannot take anyone forward.
That has been confirmed by the option taken by Kevin Lerena, who has forfeited home advantage and accepted a tantalising financial offer to defend his WBC bridgerweight boxing title in Belgium, which is home to mandatory challenger Ryad Merhy.
Lerena’s second title defence, against the Ivorian-born Belgian-French fighter, will take place on May 30.
They will be meeting for the second time — Lerena defeated Merhy on points after 12 rounds at Emperors Palace Casino on May 13 2023.
In that fight, staged by the most accomplished African promoter, Rodney Berman, Lerena won the vacant WBC Silver title.
At that time the left-hander, whose fighting skills are honed by Peter Smith, was the highest-paid local fighter.
He raked in at least R1m a fight, and only Berman could afford to pay him that amount because Lerena’s sponsors bought almost all the tables of 10 that were sold at events where he fought.
Before defeating Merhy, Lerena had earned about R10m for his third-round defeat at the hands of Daniel Dubois for the WBA heavyweight belt.
That fight took place in front of 90,000 English fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in England on December 3 2022.
On March 8 2024, Lerena was part of a major pay-per-view event in Saudi Arabia, though his purse for the fight he lost to Justis Huni was not disclosed due to a confidentiality clause. Lerena would not confirm or deny earning R4m.
In that event, Tyson Fury earned an estimated $50m for defeating mixed martial arts fighter Francis Ngannou on points over 10 rounds.
Ngannou, the French-based Cameroonian, secured a disclosed purse of $10m (R167.62m).
On July 19 2025, Lerena reportedly pocketed $500,000 for the WBC Silver heavyweight title fight he lost on points to Lawrence Okolie at Wembley Stadium in London.
The married father of four lives a luxurious life, having generated his wealth from the sport he joined in 2011.
At 33, Lerena, who has slotted perfectly into a world where social media and branding are ubiquitous, loves the finer things in life.
That is illustrated by his sense of clothes, the cars he drives, the home where he stays with his wife and children, and his love of horse racing.
In 2016, Lerena bought a share in a yearling, Royal Silvano, which was later renamed The KO Kid — Lerena’s ring name before he changed it to Two Guns.
Still, he remains true to his roots and attributes his success to the values instilled in him by his late mother, a single parent. She died in March 2024, just hours before his fight with Huni.
He was asked if he was given an offer he could not refuse to go to Belgium.
“Who is going to put that show here?” asked Lerena, whose first successful defence — he won by a third-round stoppage of Serhiy Radchenko — was staged by Dewald Mostert of Legacy Boxing Promotions at SunBet Arena in Pretoria on May 1 last year.
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