Fight night: Tommy hits back at Liebenberg (watch video)
Thomas ‘Tommy Gun’ Oosthuizen has hit back at Ryno Liebenberg, following his verbal jabs as the build-up to their anticipated fight heats up.
The two will headline the Stand and Deliver fight card, at Emperors Palace, on Saturday, March 14.
Oosthuizen (24-0-2; 13 KOs), who comes in at the back of a victory against Denis Grachev, to be crowned the WBC International champion in his light-heavyweight debut, has been widely tipped as the favourite… a stance that doesn’t sit well with his opponent.
“I hear Tommy is the full package, but that’s nothing if you can’t use it; the one time he ever fought for a title he got a draw against Isaac Chilemba. Bring it on! I’ll knock his teeth out!,” Liebenberg told the Golden Gloves website.
Asked what he makes of Liebenberg’s comments, Oosthuizen responded: “My fist can definitely fit into that big mouth of his, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do, I’m going to shove my fist down his mouth. He must do his talking in the ring.”
Oosthuizen’s manager/trainer, Harold Volbrecht, has been hard at work getting the lanky southpaw sharp for the bout and is confident that his trainee will be ready to go come fight night.
“Training is going well,” he said.
“Tommy is lucky: he’s got a variety of sparring partners who help him with speed, movement and strength in the ring.”
Asked whether this is Tommy’s biggest fight, Volbrecht said: “No, definitely not. I can tell you what this fight means though, it’s Ryno’s pay day.”
Apart from the heated verbal exchanges, the two fighters have co-existed for years and share mutual respect for each other, but are not necessarily ”friends”, a view Oosthuizen echoed.
“We’ve known each other for many years, since amateurs,” he said.
“I won’t say anything bad about him [Liebenberg], this is boxing; he wants to be me and, to be me, you have to beat me.” – @SabeloBoksburg
Watch Thomas ‘Tommy Gun’ Oosthuizen sparing with Page Tshesane ahead of his showdown against Ryno Liebenberg at Emperors Palace in March.
