'We want to be the best in the world': Why Justis Huni took a gamble before Paul Gallen fight

A fight against Paul Gallen - who watched from the commentary table - is scheduled for June 16. But three weeks out, the Australian heavyweight champion took another fight.

With his national crown on the line, Huni faced Christian Tsoye. A loss would cost Huni his title, and potentially a showdown with Gallen which would command the attention of the mainstream.

"The team and I, we sat down and thought about taking this fight first, before the Gallen fight," Huni told The Canberra Times inside Sydney's nearly empty International Convention Centre.

"We came to the conclusion we would be able to stay long and win pretty comfortably."

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He did just that, defending his Australian heavyweight crown with an emphatic unanimous decision win (99-91, 99-91, 98-92) against a willing but ultimately outclassed challenger in Tsoye, setting the scene for a showdown with Gallen next month.

No fans were in the building, just a select group of media and event personnel. You could be forgiven for thinking beforehand the risk outweighs the reward for Huni, promoter Dean Lonergan, and rising middleweight Issac Hardman for that matter.

Because Hardman fought too. He stopped Rob Berridge in the eighth round in the opening bout on the two-fight card. Hardman fought a month ago in Canberra, and will back up against Emmanuel Carlos on the Huni-Gallen card next month.

But ask him why he takes the risk and he'll tell you in no uncertain terms that he's a fighter, and fighters fight. For Hardman and Huni, the reward - another W on the record and staying active in the ring - far outweighs the risk.

"It's the exact same mentality," Huni said.

"I think a lot of people in Australia, they just want to box to be the best in Australia. If they had the mindset we had, and that's going worldwide, we should all be helping each other here in Australia and pushing each other to go to the next level.

"Everyone just wants to be the best in Australia, but we've got bigger things ahead. We want to be the best in the world.

"I don't understand why they want to sit back and have two or three fights a year in Australia, it doesn't make sense. I have two fights in five weeks.

"I grew up watching Mike Tyson, and he used to have fights every second week. I've got no problem with it, three weeks apart, that's plenty of time."

Tyson's first 29 fights came in the space of two years and one day. By the end of that run he had two heavyweight world championships to his name. That kind of record is simply unfathomable in today's boxing landscape.

This was just Huni's fourth. Tsoye was a willing contender but the reigning champion wasted little time in exposing an enormous gulf in speed. The angles the 22-year-old threw from were astounding for a man of his stature.

Huni was so dominant his corner even called out to say "take it easy on him, we need the rounds" midway through the sixth. If this is anything to go by, Gallen's style looks unlikely to seriously trouble the Olympic hopeful.

Names like Roy Jones Jr, Floyd Mayweather, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield - these are the men Huni grew up watching. Couple them with Tyson and you find "the reason I'm at where I'm at today".

Bound for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where Huni is regarded as Australia's greatest gold medal hope, and indeed the country's first boxing medallist since Grahame 'Spike' Cheney's light welterweight silver in 1988.

It is a dream born in Logan, where a pair of brothers were called into the living room by their father to watch a man the world knew simply as Iron Mike, and once Kid Dynamite.

"I remember I couldn't wait to watch him," Huni said.

"I knew it was going to be short, you didn't have to watch much, and it was exciting. You pretty much just sat around waiting for the big knockout. That was definitely something I used to look forward to."

AT A GLANCE

Justis Huni v Christian Tsoye at International Convention Centre Sydney.

ANBF Australian heavyweight title: Justis Huni [4-0] bt Christian Tsoye [5-4-2] via unanimous decision (99-91, 99-91, 98-92)

Super middleweight: Issac Hardman [10-0] bt Robert Berridge [30-8-1] via TKO (round eight, 1.37)

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