Lerato Dramani is making a significant move from his recent victory towards a crucial opportunity.
The Ring reported that South Africa’s Dramani has opted out of his upcoming rematch with former champion Kazuki Kameda. The originally scheduled fight was set to happen at ABEMA-TV in Nagoya on March 31st.
Instead of the rematch, Dramani is now in discussions to participate in the IBF featherweight title eliminator against Arnold Kegai, the opponent to be officially named soon. Both sides have accepted the invitations from the sanctioning body, as reported by The Ring.
Initially, the plan was for Dramani to face Kameda in the rematch at the same venue. However, with the fight not being sanctioned, Dramani (20-2, 11 KOs) was able to trigger his exit clause and pursue the officially sanctioned eliminator instead. Dramani holds the second position in the IBF at 126, while Kigai (21-1-1, 13 KOs) ranks third.
Former WBO bantamweight champion Kameda (40-4, 22 KOs) does not have a confirmed opponent for the March 31st date. The headline fight of the event will proceed as planned. Ginjiro and Yudai Shigeoka are set to co-headline separate strawweight title defenses. Koki Kameda, older brother of Tomoki, will oversee the event as the representative of Kameda Promotions.
Dramani achieved a remarkable upset at the Tokyo Games on October 7 last year by securing a 12-round split decision victory over Kameda. This victory prevented Kameda from potentially securing a direct shot at the WBA featherweight title.
Currently, Dramani aims to progress towards that goal, although the specific title from the sanctioning body differs.
Kegai has claimed victory in his last five fights following his loss to the then-undefeated Stephen Fulton in January 2020 in Brooklyn, New York. This match was a WBO-sanctioned 122-pound title eliminator. Philadelphia’s Fulton (21-1, 8 KOs), ranked No. 1 at 122, went on to capture the WBO and WBC titles in his weight class.
Kegai’s defeat against Fulton marked his last bout at 122 before moving up to the featherweight division. His most recent win was a third-round knockout against John Martinez on January 27 in Barcelona, Spain. The Ukrainian-born Korean boxer is on the brink of claiming his first championship.
Dramani is also eyeing his first title shot and is set to compete in the upcoming eliminator.
The winner of the title eliminator will earn a mandatory IBF challenger spot against Luis Alberto Lopez (30-2, 17 KOs), who currently holds the top spot in the 126-pound category.
Jake Donovan, a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Follow @JakeNDaBox
