Old hand Liebenberg gives Campbell a boxing lesson

Ryno Liebenberg underlined his undeniable pedigree and the immense value of experience when he scored a brutal eighth-round technical knockout victory over Rowan Campbell in the headline bout on the Golden Gloves D-Day card at Emperors Palace on Sunday.

Under the shrewd tutelage of trainer Colin Nathan at the Hotbox-MTK Global gym in Johannesburg, the 37-year-old veteran planned and executed his fight to perfection, breaking Campbell down before the former eventually succumbed to the intense pressure.

Not only did the man nicknamed “The Lion” tear his opponent to pieces before referee Tony Nyangiwe stepped in to stop the bout on cuts, one-minute and 19 seconds into the eighth, but he also relieved Campbell of both his championship belts and added the WBA Pan-African title to his haul.

Ryno Liebenberg after the fight. Picture: James Gradidge/Gallo Images

A smiling Liebenberg (now 21-7-1), who looked relaxed and confident throughout and was never unduly troubled by a tentative, seemingly nervous Campbell (13-1), also left the ring with his opponents’ national super-middleweight and IBO All-Africa title belts and is now a two-division national champion.

Although an earlier clash of heads may have caused some of the damage, Campbell sustained multiple deep cuts above his right-eye which required the ring doctor’s intervention twice, but he looked a forlorn, well-beaten figure in the neutral corner as the referee waved it over.

If anything, trainer Peter Smith’s charge showed great heart but was thoroughly outclassed by his ring-wise opponent, who launched a relentless assault to the head and body and piled up the points.

As the relatively unscathed Liebenberg succinctly put it after the fight: “I was too fast, too strong, too clever for him.”

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