Aussie heavyweight No. 1 Justis Huni’s ‘next level’ plan

Newly crowned Australian heavyweight boxing No. 1 Justis Huni has revealed his plan for world domination at just 22 years of age.

Justis Huni is looking overseas for his future. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Aussie heavyweight star Justis Huni is taking his talents to the US in a bid to take his career to the next level.

The 22-year-old Australian heavyweight champion is heading stateside to train under the tutelage of Manny Pacquiao’s trainer of two decades Justin Fortune who will supply sparring partners for Huni.

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Justis and his coach and father Rocki will then head to Big Bear to learn from Abel Sanchez, the trainer of Gennady Golovkin, before returning to Australia in January before his February 4 fight at Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre against fellow undefeated Aussie Joseph Goodall.

A win against Goodall would see him world ranked, which opens plenty more doors.

Huni has already made waves in the Australian boxing scene in his 5-0 start, including winning the Australian title in his first professional bout and headlining Main Event in his last fight against former NRL legend Paul Gallen.

In the Australian market, Huni has essentially cleared out all those before him, arguably with the exception of Demsey McKean.

McKean, who has long been ranked by Boxrec as Australia’s no. 1 heavyweight boxer, is now world ranked as 11th on the WBO and IBF rankings after signing with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Group. But Boxrec has moved Huni into the top spot for Australian heavyweights.

Huni said “we’d love to take that fight” but admitted they were at different stages of their professional careers.

Justis Huni is heading overseas in the next part of his plan to take on the world. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Former WBA world champion Lucas Browne has also called out Huni but his loss to Paul Gallen last year appeared to put him out of the plans. Browne claimed seventh round KO win over Faiga Opelu last week, the same man Huni defeated to claim the Australian heavyweight title.

But even at his young age, Huni is feeling the pull to go overseas and test himself against the best in the world.

While the US trip is just the beginning, Huni told news.com.au that he wants to test himself against some other fighters coming through the ranks and see where he is.

“It feels like my pro career is starting now,” he said. “I’m stepping up against my toughest opponent but only five fights in and ranked number one in the country. It’s time to start stepping it up.

“I’m at that point of my career where it’s time I head over there and start mixing it with these other guys and start learning new things. I’ve still got a lot to learn and this is the first step in me going to the next level.

“I’ve fought all over the world against a lot of different styles and I’m pretty much used to it. I think different countries have their own style. It’s what I’m looking to do in the future, going over and working around with them more and completing my craft even more.

“Where I want to get to in this sport, I need to make these decisions and sacrifices and get over there and mix it with them.”

However, the move charge forward in his professional career came at the expense of his Olympic dream.

Huni has had sacrifices along the way. Picture: Jerad Williams

Huni injured his hand before his pre-Olympic professional fights against Christian Tsoye and Gallen and was forced to withdraw from Tokyo. Huni’s hand has recovered following surgery but it meant he had to give up his gold medal hopes.

“I dwelled on it for a little bit, but I kind of just dropped it, I let it go,” he said. “It’s time to move forward. Onto my next dream, goal I’ve set myself which is going all the way in the professional ranks.

“The Olympics, I made it all the way, I qualified and unfortunately it happened so some things are out of your control. Just had to let it go, move forward.”

Huni is planning to fight seven times this year but if he kept his Olympic eligibility, he would have been limited to just five professional fights before Paris 2024 and ultimately decided to leave the dream behind.

While Huni is focused on his career, he admitted Aussie George Kambosos Jr. winning three lightweight title belts off Teofimo Lopez last month has inspired him to shock the world himself.

Kambosos was a 13-1 underdog against Lopez but he pulled off the major upset against one of the world’s most hyped boxing talents.

Kambosos worked hard to earn his title shot, ticking off victories overseas as he got to 20-0 before the Lopez fight. Now Huni wants to follow in his footsteps.

“It inspired me a lot that it can be done,” Huni said. “It just takes a lot of hard work and dedication and self-belief. George’s belief in himself, he backed himself all the way. When all the odds were against him, he backed himself. You definitely need to believe in yourself.”

Huni claimed a KO win over Paul Gallen. Picture: Richard Dobson

But Rocki admitted it was becoming difficult to get sparring partners and that he’d already sparred most of the Aussie heavyweights in the past and that the father-son team still had plenty to learn.

“I’m going there hopefully to learn from these guys who have been doing it a long time and have had the opportunity to train world champions,” Rocki said. “I’m basically going to be a sponge.

“I’m hoping he gets the experience and working with someone different and different styles and adapting to those different styles.

“I think he’s always done it in his amateur days and I know he’s been over there before but that was in the amateurs and obviously in the pros it’s different.”

As for taking on international opponents, Rocki said he’s excited for Justis to make the leap.

“He’s fought most of the guys coming through the ranks (in the amateurs) at some point,” he said. “There’s a new wave of kids coming through. I’m confident he’s used to it because of his amateur background.”

Originally published as Aussie heavyweight No. 1 Justis Huni’s ‘next level’ plan