SEASONED SA fighter Ryno “The Lion” Liebenberg has labelled German fighter Vincent Feigenbutz a coward for opting to relinquish his International Boxing Federation (IBF) intercontinental super middleweight title instead of facing him in a rematch.
Liebenberg challenged for Feigenbutz’s IBF intercontinental strap in February and the contest was stopped in the sixth round in favour of the champion after the pair’s heads accidentally clashed in an earlier round.
It was declared a technical knockout and the champion retained his crown. The SA camp lodged a complaint with the IBF.
The IBF ordered the promoters to start negotiations for another match-up. Negotiations between Liebenberg and Feigenbutz’s respective promoters, Golden Gloves and Sauerland Promotions, were due to be concluded by 25 May, but SA promoter Rodney Berman received word that Feigenbutz wasn’t interested in going through with it.
The 34-year-old SA boxer says he badly wanted to fight the German prospect to set the record straight. “He is chicken, in Afrikaans we say he is ‘a bang gat’. Vincent is rated third by the IBF. If he vacates the title he will automatically lose his ranking.
“He is a bum – he’s scared of me. His actions confirm this. He knows what happened in our first encounter, he’s had a glimpse of what will happen to him if we fight again. I have been training for this contest, so it is unfortunate,” he said.
“The belt will now be vacant and I will fight for it in September here at home. I know I will win it and carve out a future for me in this division,” said Liebenberg.