Every boxing trainer dreams of the next potential superstar walking into his gym.
The bigger the better.
That’s because boxing will always have its lightweight heroes and middleweight marvels, but the heavyweights are the best, most valuable cachet.
Their physical dimensions alone position them as outliers.
They make the ringboards creak, their thunderous power and bad intentions providing a compelling draw.
‘Reminded of this hard truth’
Writing on his Got Game website, Clinton van der Berg says that last year, former SA light heavyweight champion Ryno Liebenberg was reminded of this hard truth when meaty Juan “JJ” Alberts stepped into his gym in Johannesburg’s West Rand.
Alberts was large – 144kg large.
“You’re fat,” the trainer told him.
But he was keen. And capable.
He’d never been in a weights gym and yet he was bench-pressing 150kg and squatting 180kg without fuss.
Young Alberts grew up in Krugersdorp, where he wrestled, earning bronze at the SA championship in both Greco-Roman and freestyle.
Given his size, he was also drawn to rugby, playing number eight and earning selection for the Craven Week side.
His father and uncles had boxed, so he had an affinity for the sport, although was only drawn to it in his 20s.
Liebenberg put his eager pupil to work.
As the sweat poured off him, so did the kilos. Before long, he could crank out sub-60-minute 10km runs; a remarkable feat for a big man.
When his pupil was around 130kg, Liebenberg knocked on veteran promoter Rodney Berman’s door.
Liebenberg isn’t in the habit of polishing anyone’s marbles, but he was emphatic.
“He’s special,” he told the Golden Gloves boss, who promptly gave the prospect a chance at a tournament at Emperors Palace last year.
As he approached the ring, the crowd roared.
Big Alberts, resplendent in two-tone khaki, looked suitably focused and fierce.
The ring walk took longer than the fight.
Mpendulo Ranapo was dispatched in the first round, succumbing to Albert’s hard, clubbing attack.
Job done.
Alberts is no Oleksandr Usyk or Mike Tyson, but Berman reckons there are shades of George Foreman, whose power, cross-arm defence and lunging shots made up for his lack of athleticism.
Alberts was on his way, although boxing signalled at least one major change in his life.
Liebenberg ordered him to stop bouncing at night clubs – not because he couldn’t handle himself, but because the late night work could make him a target.
As his second fight loomed, Alberts took to working out with relish.
He also tried his hand punching a PowerKube, which measures striking power, and promptly broke a knuckle.
He couldn’t spar or hit a heavy bag in the build-up. Liebenberg was furious, but kept it quiet.
Alberts outweighed Pieter Breytenbach by 50kg.
”I asked JJ when he last weighed 80 and he said when he was in Grade Six.”
Not that the weight imbalance helped. Alberts couldn’t pull the trigger and had to settle for a four-round points win.
Berman was disappointed and Liebenberg duly read Alberts the riot act, warning him that he could have blown it.
It was an important lesson for Alberts, who hasn’t stepped out of line since.
For his third fight he came in even lighter, 119kg, and looked outstanding at the weight.
He was still big and powerful, and fast too.
Gilly Dickenson, his opponent, had something of a reputation.
He waded in early, hoping to surprise Alberts with a haymaker, but the West Rander was resilient and cracked him several times before finding the perfect opening in the second round, knocking him out and going to 3-0 as a pro.
Given Alberts’ age (23) and inexperience, Liebenberg is happy to play the long game.
The boxing landscape is littered with the carcasses of can’t-miss heavyweight prospects, pushed too fast, too soon.
Berman, too, is in no hurry, although it irks him that more established local heavyweights are already making excuses, keen to avoid his new signing.
Word has gotten around fast.
Alberts spars with established pros like Akani Phuzi and Chris Thompson and has traded with SA heavyweight champion Shaun Potgieter.
He’s hung tough with all of them.
Berman is too canny to proclaim Alberts as the next big thing in boxing, but he says the buzz surrounding him reminds him of South Africa’s heavyweight heydays, when bruisers like Gerrie Coetzee, Kallie Knoetze, Pierre Coetzer, Johnny du Plooy and more latterly Corrie Sanders drew fans in their thousands.
“The truth about heavyweights is you never know how good they are until they get hit properly. Even then, the appetite for the big guys is remarkable and the public flock to watch heavyweights,” said Berman. “JJ’s best asset is his size, which can take him far. But if he’s half as special as Ryno claims, he’ll be pretty decent.”
Alberts’ next outing will be later this month, appearing at Fight Island in Cape Town.
It’s a shrewd move, showcasing him to an entirely new audience and keeping him on the fast track to a youth title in the next 18 months.
Liebenberg keeps pushing him, trying to break him physically. He dreams up mad drills and insane workouts. Alberts just gets on with it, neither complaining nor wilting. He’s already broken 28 minutes for 5km. Sub-25 is the next target. He kills it on the assault bike and does as many push-ups as Liebenberg demands.
It’s tempting to say that Alberts might be the next big thing, but probably safer to say it will be fun watching him make his way in the next few years. Big men who can punch and look after themselves have always drawn an audience.
The legacy is well set.
Which boxing weight category do you enjoy watching most?
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