Spar wars as Olympic hope Justis Huni battles big Demsey McKean
Twenty-year-old Justis Huni is considered Australia’s best amateur big man since Kyogle dairy farmer Athol McQueen, who decked the great Smokin’ Joe Frazier at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.
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The Jeff Horn-Tim Tszyu fight will be officially announced in Sydney on Tuesday but the biggest hits in Australian boxing were happening at Bethania, south of Brisbane on Monday, when brilliant Olympic hope Justis Huni went toe to toe with world-rated professional Demsey McKean.
The 109kg Huni, who has the footwork of a boxer half his weight, heads for Jordan at the end of the month for the qualifying tournament leading into the Tokyo Olympics.
At 20 he is considered Australia’s best amateur big man since Kyogle dairy farmer Athol McQueen, who decked the great Smokin’ Joe Frazier at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.
On Monday he and McKean slugged it out at Huni’s Bethania gym as McKean prepares to face the slick American Jonathan Rice at The Star, on the Gold Coast on March 7.
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Huni said sparring with the 198cm McKean was invaluable because he was the same size and style as the top seed at the Olympic qualifiers, Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan, the current world amateur champion.
``It’s been a great experience sparring with Demsey and also with Arsene Fokou Fosso, who won a bronze medal at the world amateur titles in 2017 for Cameroon and is now living in Canberra,’’ Huni said.
``Demsey is the perfect sparring to face Jalolov. He and Arsene made me work very hard today which is what I need leading up to the Olympics. Fighting at Tokyo has always been my dream and I want to do my country proud and reward my coaches and my family and friends who have put so much faith in me.’’
Huni’s preparation continues later this week when he is also due to spar 2012 Olympian Jai Opetaia, now a leading contender for the world cruiserweight title, and Floyd Masson, a rising star from Perth.
Huni, the No. 4 ranked amateur super-heavyweight in the world, became Australia’s first world youth champion three years ago when he overcame a bad bout of nerves and subzero temperatures in Russia to beat five of the world’s top young fighters.
He is brilliantly coached by Mark Wilson and his dad Rocki Huni and his flashy boxing style – hit and not be hit – is based on fast footwork, head movement and lightning counters.
He says he has been influenced by his three great boxing heroes, Mike Tyson, Pernell Whitaker and Roy Jones Jr, whose styles were based on a foundation of speed and evasion.
Huni is the No. 3 seed for the Olympic qualifiers that start on March 3 in Amman, Jordan. The tournament was moved from Wuhan, China, centre of the Coronavirus outbreak.
“The two top favourites for Olympic gold are ahead of me in the seedings so hopefully I come out of this event ranked No. 1 going into Tokyo,’’ said Huni who has not lost in five years.
Anthem drama erupts amid boxing farce
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Friday night’s world title fight descended into a farce before the bell rung, but despite the wrong national anthem being played for middleweight world champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, the Kazakh king took care of business.