If a boxer’s desire can be measured by his effort, JJ “Juan” Alberts is already a winner.
When he rocked up at Ryno Liebenberg’s gym last May, he weighed 144,7kg.
By the time he made his professional debut, in August, he was 130kg.
Even better, by the time of his third bout, earlier this month, he weighed in at a relatively svelte 119kg.
Three fights. Three knockouts. If nothing else, his hard training and weight loss point to a heavyweight with serious intentions. No slacking, no complaining.
“I dream up the wildest, hardest, most insane workouts,” said Liebenberg. “JJ just does them, no complaining.”
Liebenberg, the former SA light heavyweight champion, is a hard task master who won’t tolerate laziness. He has no such concerns about Alberts, who at 23 is showing rare dedication.
Despite his bulk, he already runs 5km at 28-minute pace – the short-term aim is 25 minutes – and produces crazy numbers on the assault bike.
Of course, none of this matters if he can’t fight. But Liebenberg has no doubt about his ability.
“He’s a special type of talent, a big man who can box and move. The scary thing is he hasn’t realised how talented he is.
“People ask why I say that. It’s because he can already go eight or 10 rounds with guys like Akani Phuzi and Chris Thompson, boxers who have been champions. The sparring is competitive; it’s hard and good. That’s what I tell him: he’s sparring against guys with titles, and handling himself. That’s why I believe he’s special.”
His form has waxed and waned since his debut. Alberts blew away Mpendulo Ranapo in the first round in his debut, but was underwhelming as he struggled against the far smaller Pieter Breytenbach.
But context is everything. Liebenberg kept it quiet, but Alberts broke his knuckle in the build-up to the Breytenbach fight and had no sparring whatsoever. It’s why he couldn’t fire a shot.
“It’s a fact, but not an excuse,” said Liebenberg, who was far happier with Alberts’ last outing, a two-round firefight against Gilly Dickenson.
No one was more pleased than Rodney Berman. “I made it known that he had to improve,” said the promoter. “He came out and boxed like a veteran, taking some shots and then getting the stoppage. I’m hopeful he will allow us to re-live the old days when the heavyweight division was so vibrant with guys like Kallie Knoetze, Gerrie Coetzee and then Corrie Sanders, Johnny du Plooy and Pierre Coetzer. The fans love the big guys, especially the big hitters. I suspect Alberts might be the next in line, which is why the plan is to keep him busy.”
Liebenberg expects the big man to weigh around 115kg for his next fight, scheduled at Fight Island 2 in Cape Town in April, after which the team will be targeting more recognized names.
He says they wouldn’t mind fights against the like of Juan Roux, Ruann Visser and Josh Pretorius, all good, solid heavyweights who ought to take Alberts to the later rounds.
“Roux is one I’d really like. He’s big, strong and can hit. Nobody has really banged JJ or made him buckle. Then next year I envisage us stepping up against someone like [SA champion] Shaun Potgieter, maybe Akani or Chris. JJ isn’t the sort of guy who can chase down a world title in his fifth or sixth fight, but he’s learning fast and can become something special. We’ll see how he goes against the big boys locally and then push on from there.”
With a fast-growing fan base and the sort of power and strength that rattles big men, Alberts is well worth keeping an eye on. If he’s half as good as the heavyweights who wowed us in the 1980s and 1990s, he will do just fine.
