The man who once trained American heavyweight king Riddick Bowe — plus a host of other stars like Shane Mosley, Amir Khan and Diego Corrales — has heaped praise on rising Australian star Justis Huni, saying he has “never seen someone” like the young Queenslander.
But that praise, you should know, was won the hard way, with Huni considered a “donkey” when he first arrived in Los Angeles just six weeks ago.
Undefeated in all six fights as a professional, 23-year-old Huni is promising to continue his quick rise through the heavyweight division with a big finish over New Zealand rival Kiki Leutele in Brisbane tonight.
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Should the young heavyweight come good on his promise to KO Leutele, he is then looking to be catapulted into a huge top 10 showdown – with his management team already negotiating with vicious Khazakh finisher Zhan Kossobutskiy.
One man who has no doubt about Huni’s potential on the world stage is US trainer Goosen, whose Californian stable has included stars like Bowe, Mosley and Joel Casamayor.
Initially making headlines as an Olympic silver medallist, Bowe went on to become a two-time heavyweight champion. In 1992, he handed champ Evander Holyfield the first loss of his career to claim the undisputed WBA, WBC and IBF titles.
More recently, Goosen has teamed up with both Ryan Garcia and Frank Sanchez, the latter a Cuban heavyweight now ranked No.3 with both the WBC and WBO.
During his recent trip to the States, Huni sparred extensively against Sanchez at the Hollywood gym of Australian Justin Fortune.
And according to Huni’s father and trainer Rocki, Goosen was incredibly impressed with what he saw.
Huni Sr also revealed however, that his son had to work hard to win over the American crew, revealing that when he first entered the gym for day one of sparring, nobody even paused to shake the young Aussie’s hand.
“They all thought Justis was some donkey walking in to be bashed,” Huni snr told Fox Sports Australia.
“But after that first sparring session, all the other boxers, the trainers, they all came up to shake his hand.
“Even Joe said he’d never seen someone like Justis before.
“Said he had never seen a heavyweight who can throw the amount of punches Justis throws, and keep on them.”
Which is some praise, right?
“Huge praise,” the trainer agreed. “And comforting I suppose you would say, to know that what Justis is doing, and learning, it’s all coming to fruition.”
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Huni and Leutele face off after weigh in | 03:45
After spending six weeks Stateside under the watchful eye of Fortune, Huni is now promising to use his headliner at Brisbane’s Nissan Arena to add another first to his growing resume – giving Leutele the first stoppage loss of his career.
“He’s coming in to knock me out and I’m coming to do the same,” said the Aussie who tipped the scales Thursday afternoon at 109.5kg.
Leutele, meanwhile, was 112.1kg.
“I’m looking to make a statement,” Huni continued.
“That’s what makes me so excited.
“I get to showcase everything that I’ve been up to in training.
“(Laughs) I haven’t just been laying around in bed.
“I’m dangerous.”
Watch Huni v Leutele LIVE on Kayo Sports, TONIGHT from 7pm AEDT. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Speaking after the weigh ins, Leutele also predicted a KO win over the undefeated Australian while his trainer Isaac Peach revealed, despite taking a few shots at Team Huni throughout the build up, he was well aware of the challenges his team faces.
Quizzed on all the talk surrounding Huni’s punching power, Peach said: “Justis can punch, man.
“He might not be the biggest puncher, but he can whack.
“I was ringside for his last fight against Joe Goodall, and he hurt him in the first round.
“So if I was Justis’s coach I wouldn’t change a thing.
“He has skills that nobody else has.
“So f … ing use them.
“I’m actually a fan of Justis Huni.
“But I’m a fan of Kiki Leutele even more.
“We know we’re the underdogs in this one. But that’s fine, we love that role.”
FULL CARD (on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo from 7pm AEDT)
Justis Huni vs Kiki Leutele — heavyweight (IBF Pan Pacific Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation WBO Orientaltitle titles)
Jerome Pampellone vs Faris Chevalier — light heavyweight (vacant IBF Australasian title)
Clay AJ Waterman vs Mitchell Whitelaw — light heavyweight
Benjamin Bommber vs Ankush Hooda — super welterweight
Ben Horn vs Campbell Somerville — super welterweight
Billy Polkinghorn vs Broby Martin — lightweight
