Vikapita ‘Beast Master’ Meroro is no stranger to big fight nights, having been involved in several high profile international title contests down the years.
During that time, the 30-year-old has suffered defeat, sometimes somewhat controversially, and won his fare share of bouts to propel him to rank among the top fighters in the world in the two divisions he has competed in.
Earlier this week, he travelled to Moscow not just to challenge Russian knock out specialist Dmitry Kudryashov for his WBA Cruiserweight International title, but to return home with the belt.
The pair meet at Moscow’s Luzhniki Arena on Friday as an undercard to the heavyweight WBC title elimination clash between Alexander Povetkin and Mike Perez.
“It’s a big fight and we will do our level best and that is what we have been doing for ourself and the entire nation,” Meroro’s promoter and trainer Nestor Tobias told The Namibian Sport.
“All is good here in Moscow and we arrived safely (on Tuesday). Meroro is in good shape and ready to represent the nation. The champion (Meroro) is within the cruiserweight limit. He’s focused and just waiting for the big night to make us all proud,” Tobias said.
“We are going in there to win. There’s nothing to fear. We are well prepared and have a plan that we want to execute,” added co-trainer Imms Moses.
Meroro is ranked fourth in the world by the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) and holds a formidable record of 32 fights, 28 wins and four losses.
While Meroro knows the agony that comes with defeat, it is an emotion that his 29-year-old Russian opponent is unfamiliar with, having stopped all his rivals to date within the distance.
Kudryashov is the current WBA International Cruiserweight champion and is rated No.6 in the world by the World Boxing Association (WBA), 12th by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and No.5 by the World Boxing Council (WBC).
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