Tissen returns for another potential thriller

There are boxers whose careers will always be linked to a certain opponent.

Sugar Ray Leonard will never be mentioned without factoring in Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran.

Diego Corrales will always be associated with Jose Luis Castillo due to their epic bout in 2005.

At home Alfonso Tissen and Lee Dyer will forever be remembered for their ring battle which surpassed all expectations in June last year.

Long before the sound of the final bell the fight was already screaming ‘rematch’.

The draw outcome heightened the rematch calls.

But it has not happened as yet with Dyer having not returned to the ring while Tissen is continuing to fight on albeit in an obscure environment.

After going 1-1 in the last two bouts, Tissen will now take on Ryno Liebenberg in a Golden Gloves Promotions show at Emperors Palace next Saturday.

The fight can easily eclipse the Tissen-Dyer war given the offence-minded approach of the two boxers.

Liebenberg, the more battledtested of the two, likes to brawl although his trainer Colin Nathan has refined his technique to incorporate pose and composure.

But if his opponent swings for the fences, Liebenberg often obliges meaning the ingredients of an epic battle have already been prepared.

“This is a fans’ fight,” enthused GGP boss Rodney Berman.

“We all know that these two do not flinch at the sight of their own blood.”

Since the Dyer fight, Tissen has travelled to Malaysia to drop a decision to bright prospect Azizbek Abdugofurov who has been beating up everyone put in front of him.

The fact that he went the distance with the Uzbekistan born on foreign soil speaks volumes about Tissen’s resolve.

Tissen returned to the win column this past May when he saw off the challenge of Chimwemwe Chiotcha of Malawi.

Berman has dangled the ABU light-heavyweight title carrot for the winner of the bout.

The main attraction will be a battle of left-handers between Thabiso Mchunu and Thomas Oosthuizen while Lusanda Komanisi will make his debut under GGP with a lightweight date with Michael Mokoena.