'You've got to believe': Australian boxing champion Justis Huni aiming high against Arsene Fosso

He was 15 years old when he traded homework for haymakers, adamant he could realise a dream in a sport which so often can chew you up and spit you out.

"I just thought there were better things to do than sit in a classroom to be honest," Huni said.

"My mind was focused on boxing anyway, my old man was happy with it, I was happy with it. I just took it on board and we ran with it.

"I dropped out of high school to do boxing full-time, and then I qualified for the youth worlds, I went over to Russia and won the gold medal over there. That's pretty much where everything kicked off."

MORE BOXING

Now 21, Huni (1-0) will make the first defence of his Australian crown when he meets Canberra's adopted Cameroonian Arsene Fosso (3-0) at the Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane on Thursday.

Fosso marks the next checkpoint in Huni's promising career before promoter Dean Lonergan launches the Olympic Games gold medal contender into a bold three-fight plan.

A win here sets Huni on a collision course with Herman Ene-Purcell in Toowoomba in March. In May he is slated to face former world title contender Alex Leapai in Brisbane.

Then Huni will look to finish clearing out the domestic division against former world champion Lucas Browne in July, a showdown which could be held in Queensland or Sydney.

Weeks later he would be in Tokyo chasing Olympic gold before relaunching his professional dream against international opposition. So how does all of this sit with a fighter so young?

Just fine, because fast forward a couple of years and Huni sees himself fighting for a world title, en route to fulfilling a burning ambition to unify the division.

He does it under the watchful eye of his father Rocky in an old school garage at home boasting little more than a bench press, a bag, a floor to ceiling ball, and a handful of other weights.

"Honestly this year I was just going through the motions, there was nothing in front of me that I was working towards. I was starting to lose motivation," Huni said.

"Then I met up with Dean and we found a plan, now we're here. I've gained all my motivation and all of my excitement back that I had earlier in the year going for the Olympic qualifiers. That's why I want to keep the ball rolling, I've had a pretty long year of doing nothing.

"The [Australian] title does mean something to me, but it's not where I want to stop. I just want to keep the ball rolling onto bigger and better things.

"I just take it one thing at a time. This whole year, the only thing that mattered to me was the Olympics, now it's the pros.

"In the heavyweights you never know what's going to happen. You've just got to believe in your power. If you believe in it, then anything can happen. You never know what's going to happen. All it takes is one clean shot."