Ryno Liebenberg has never pretended to be anything other than an earnest boxing man who says things as they are.
So his admission that he doesn’t love training boxers is only mildly surprising. During his prime as a boxer himself, he was all heart and effort. No shortcuts, no excuses.
Which explains his ambivalent attitude as a cornerman. “What you expect as a trainer is very different from what you get,” he says wistfully.
Liebenberg is old school, so has little time for boxers who aren’t dedicated or who spend more time on social media than in the gym.
“When I was a boxer, boxing came first,” he says. “According to me, if you don’t do that, it doesn’t work. The boxers must do what I say.”
Liebenberg was a tough man in the ring. He remains a tough man out of it, too, and admits he’s still learning the ropes as a trainer, “when to give and when to relax.”
These are early days for the former light-heavyweight hard man turned trainer. Juan “JJ” Alberts, the hulking heavyweight, is his best prospect. He believes he’s “special” and is excited by the prospects.
Alberts and stablemate Morgan Hunter will both box on next weekend’s Golden Gloves event at Emperors Palace.
Alberts fights Pieter Breytenbach in his second pro outing. He and Liebenberg have done their due diligence and aren’t especially concerned.
“JJ’s biggest asset is his size,” says Liebenberg of his 130kg prodigy. “His opponent is from an MMA gym who I saw on a TikTok clip weighing around 80 kilos. I asked JJ when he last weighed 80 and he said when he was in Grade Six.”
Having trained hard and without distraction, Liebenberg is predicting an early night given how hard Alberts punches.
The trainer expects that Hunter (2-1) will have a trickier middleweight encounter against Dean Promnick (3-0).
Hunter had an encouraging amateur career – he won a silver at national level – but he’s fluctuated from the high of heavyweight (in the amateurs) to where he is now (middleweight).
He turned pro under Gert Strydom, but after being dropped in his last fight, experienced his first pro loss.
Liebenberg sees it as a showdown between a puncher in Morgan against a box-and-move artist in Promnick.
“It’s a lekker fight, and a good test for Morgan.”
Liebenberg himself is happy to go along for the ride. He knows more than most about how boxing works, having experienced the highs of title wins to the lows of defeat and exhausting training camps.
He might never love his new vocation, but he’ll give it his all.
He knows no other way.
