It might be premature to think of this as Justis Huni's make-or-break fight.
It should be — this is only his sixth professional outing.
And yet, in boxing's inimitable fashion, Wednesday night's contest between Huni and Joe Goodall for the Australian Heavyweight title — as well as an alphabet soup of other regional titles — has been accorded the rare gravitas of a super fight.
"This will be one of the best heavyweight fights you see in Australia, probably since [1908] when Tommy Burns took on Jack Johnson down at Rushcutter's Bay, Sydney," Huni's promoter Dean Lonergan said at Monday's press conference.
Huni, 5-0 (4 KO's), is Australia's prodigal son, judged by many as one of the most talented heavyweights the country has ever produced.
As such, the all-Australian contest in Brisbane on Wednesday has been given the full big-fight treatment, including a pop-up ring in central Brisbane for the workouts and a well-attended public press conference.
Huni is still on the path towards bigger and better things, but his fledgling career has seemingly stalled of late, thanks to a combination of injury and repeat COVID infections.
The 23-year-old man-mountain from Logan has not fought in almost an entire year, since beating Paul Gallen on June 16, 2021 — a victory that came at the cost of his Olympic dream.
This fight has been twice delayed and, given last week's shocking drive-by shooting of the Huni residence in Logan, the build-up has now reached fever pitch.
The 193cm Huni weighed in at a solid 110.05kg, the heaviest of his career and almost 4 kilos heavier than his last outing against Gallen.
Goodall, slightly taller at 197cm, came in at a ripped 108.6kg.
The winner of this fight is set to jump into the WBC, WBO and IBF world's top-15-ranked heavyweights, opening doors to some of the biggest names in the division.
Eddie Hearn, owner of Matchroom Boxing and promoter of former two-time world heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua, is also reportedly set to be in attendance for the fight, which could open up even more doors for the winner.
"It's a massive opportunity. It's everything," Goodall said.
Former sparring partners laying it all on the line
Goodall, 8-0-1 (7 KO's), is well known to Huni.
As young amateurs in Brisbane they sparred hundreds of rounds against each other as Goodall's stellar amateur career, which included a world championship silver medal and a Commonwealth Games bronze in Glasgow, took off.
"Ever since Justis turned pro I figured we would fight some day," Goodall said at the press conference.
Goodall, 29, has not yet fulfilled his potential in the professional ranks due to a litany of injuries, but has bounced back under the tutelage of 1984 Olympic silver medallist Kevin Barry in Las Vegas.
Lonergan said that the match up "seriously concerns" him and that Goodall has come back from America a changed man who will be well-versed in boxing's "dark arts".
Goodall refused to rise to Lonergan's accusations that he will bring "dirty tricks" to the ring, though, saying simply that he had "tunnel vision".
However, last week Goodall warned Huni against underestimating him, and Barry admitted part of the game plan was to unsettle Huni.
"It's going to be physical," Barry said.
"We have too much respect for Justis's skill-set. If we go into a straight-out boxing contest, it's going to be very hard for us to win a 10-round decision here.
"We need to be physical, we need to take Justis hopefully here he's never been before."
All eyes on the knockout
As well as the pressure of defending an unbeaten record and shooting up the world ranking lists, additional focus has been placed on Huni's ability to land a serious knockout blow.
Four of Huni's five victories have come inside the distance, but mostly through sheer weight of punches rather than a highlight-reel spark out.
Meanwhile, seven of Goodall's eight wins have come by knockout, with six coming in the first round and the other in the second.
That power will doubtless test Huni's chin — another attribute that critics have raised questions about since he was knocked out in sparing prior to the Gallen fight and suffered concussion after slipping on concrete, also in the build-up to that contest.
"This is what makes for a big fight," Goodall said at Monday's press conference.
"People come to see boxing for the power, the athleticism, the aggression, the violence even.
"This fight could potentially give that."
From Goodall, whose coach described as a "junkyard dog" by Barry and "hard iron" by Huni's promoter Dean Lonergan, that's absolutely on the cards.
But can Huni deliver that sort of violent conclusion?
Huni has faced criticism for his relative lack of punching power, not least from Australian boxing legend Jeff Fenech, who told Fox Sports that Huni "can't punch".
Thanks to his time in the amateur ranks, Huni has developed extraordinary hand speed for a heavyweight to capitalise on landing scoring punches as quickly as possible.
In the professional ranks though, especially in the heavyweight division, landing scoring shots are less important than developing brutal one-punch power that can knock out an opponent with one blow — as demonstrated by "Big Daddy" Lucas Browne's first-round bludgeoning of Junior Fa on the George Kambosos-Devin Haney undercard.
Huni has been relatively bullish in the lead-up, though, predicting a sixth-round stoppage victory with or without a clean one-punch finisher.
"I'm going to go out there and go for war and come back victorious," Huni said at Tuesday's weigh-in.
"My boxing abilities can help get me to where I need to.
"People have got that one-punch power but they won't be able to keep up with five, six punches coming at a time."
When is Justis Huni vs Joe Goodall?
The fight card is set to get underway at QEII stadium in Brisbane at 7pm AEST.
Huni and Goodall will likely make their ring walks a whole lot closer to 10pm, though.
There are seven fights on the undercard, including unbeaten middleweight Andrei Mikhailovich.
How can I watch Justis Huni vs Joe Goodall?
The fight will be available on Fox Sport's pay-per-view channel, Main Event, for $59.99.
