Manny Pacquiao's former trainer Justin Fortune says Australian heavyweight Justis Huni possesses the same qualities that made the Filipino maestro one of the greatest boxers of all time.
Fortune, a former heavyweight boxer himself, has flown from Los Angeles to Brisbane helping prepare Huni ahead of his showdown with highly rated New Zealander Kiki Toa Leutele at Nissan Arena on November 4.
Huni spent several weeks in LA at Fortune's gym recently where he fine-tuned his craft and sparred against some of the world's best boxers including Frank Sanchez.
"Manny was devastatingly fast and strong. Manny was a freak. Justis has those qualities in a heavyweight, which is better. More money," Fortune told AAP before a sparring session in Brisbane's CBD.
"Manny was very gentle unless you really pissed him off. Then Manny would beat you up. A lot of people pissed him off, so a lot got beaten up. Justis is the same but he is maybe a little meaner and more intimidating when he throws his shots."
Fortune is assisting the undefeated Huni because he believes in him and his ability to go all the way due to his speed, power and skill. Adding to the 23-year-old's power is a key facet of their training with the end goal of being able to finish off fights with the knockout blow.
"Heavyweights are different. People want to see blood and knockouts," Fortune said.
"They don't just want to see a heavyweight boxer. You go in there. You smash people. You leave. Then people say, 'I want to watch him again because he beats people up'. That's what we are working on.
"Justis is very intimidating. He can punch. It's just a matter of getting him to sit down on his shots, which we have been working on.
"It might take about two or three fights to get him to do that perfectly and all the time."
Huni said he was soaking up all of Fortune's wisdom and knowledge and "very grateful" to be under his guidance.
"It's unreal to have someone like Justin fly all the way across the world to be here and in my corner," Huni told AAP.
"What I learned over in LA I can bring back here and now he is here to force it on me.
"He has helped me find my strength. He has helped me really turn into my punches. I am getting more power. I can feel it and see it in my sparring.
"Leutele is tough. He comes to fight and he comes to bang but we have worked on a lot of things to get around that."
