Ryno Liebenberg has said that he did everything in his power to win against Russian boxer Fedor Chudinov in St Petersburg, Russia, on Friday evening.
However, his best was not good enough as Chudinov dominated the fight on his way to a unanimous points victory during their World Boxing Association (WBA) Gold super-middleweight title contest. The judges scored the fight 116-111, 119-108 and 118-109.
“I can honestly say I hit Chudinov with everything I had and he didn’t flinch, not even a moment where I felt my punches did anything, he is an absolute warrior and made from iron,” Liebenberg wrote on his Facebook page.
“The last person you should fight toe to toe but it’s who I am and what I do. It was one of my hardest fights and I really had to dig super deep to get through it. My team Paul Immelman, Neil Shaw, Emile Pienaar and Tinus Combrinck all played a massive part in getting me to the end.”
Liebenberg, who was fighting for the last time, fought against Chudinov without his trainer Colin Nathan. The Hot Box Gym chief trainer was in a St Petersburg hospital following a suspected positive COVID-19 test.
“My main man Colin Nathan was unfortunately not able to make the fight and I missed him so so much, but that all being said, we tried and failed and I lived to tell the story what more do you need,” Liebenberg said.
“My boxing career has been one of the best with so much support inside and outside the ring. It’s unheard of lately in boxing. South Africa I love you and appreciate that you’ve been part of my journey, my time has come to hand it over to the next generation.”
The 37-year-old Liebenberg won multiple titles in his 11 years as a professional boxer. He won six titles in the light-heavyweight division – International Boxing Organisation (IBO), IBO Intercontinental, World Boxing Council (WBC) International Silver, WBC International, WBC Silver and South African.
He also won four super-middleweight – African Boxing Union (ABU), WBA Pan-African, IBO All-Africa and SA – titles.
