Justis Huni emerges as a rare outlier in land of heavyweight boxing's giants ahead of Paul Gallen battle

Muhammad Ali is perhaps the rare exception. He was a heavyweight boxing champion whose legacy seemingly knows no bounds, with a career in the ring built on speed, agility and charisma.

So when the knockout power of rising star and unbeaten Australian heavyweight champion Justis Huni is called into question, his father and trainer points to the Louisville Lip, the man they call the greatest.

"Muhammad Ali never had that one shot power. He boxed the ears off most of his opponents," Rocki Huni said.

So too does his son Justis, who is plying his trade as a professional with an amateur style with an eye on the Tokyo Olympic Games in two months' time.

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Huni improved to 4-0 with a 10-round clinic against Christian Tsoye in front of a small group of invited guests at Sydney's International Convention Centre on Wednesday night.

He returns in three weeks to face undefeated rival Paul Gallen [11-0-1], who says Huni lacks the devastating power which could put the durable NRL great away.

Huni's win over Tsoye was more death by a thousand cuts. Every time it seemed as though he could swarm on an outclassed opponent, the message came from his father in the corner: "take it easy on him, we need the rounds".

"What I wanted out of the fight was the rounds, obviously it's hard to get rounds in sparring. I needed him to get rounds under pressure, under lights," Rocki said.

"I don't see the fight [against Gallen] going the way it went [against Tsoye]. It was all about getting the rounds in and safety for us. You probably heard me every time Justis rocked him, I called out to take it easy or back off.

"At the end of the day, he probably could have stopped it earlier but there were too many risks. The risk of getting caught while going for the knockout, and not fighting on the 16th, [was too great].

"To us at the end of the day, it's all about the 16th."

Gallen is adamant he has the style to upset the Olympic gold medal contender and derail the hype surrounding one of Australia's brightest young talents.

He has built a reputation on his relentless pressure and says his head movement will be far greater than Tsoye's, and Gallen is confident he can keep coming forward against Huni.

"He hasn't got that one-punch knockout power, I think we know that," Gallen said.

"He landed some clean, flush shots and he hasn't knocked anyone out. It's an accumulation of punches, which he is very good at. That's what I've got to avoid.

"I saw things I'm going to exploit. The pace I'm going to go at is a whole lot faster than Christian went. Once I get on the inside, I'm going to be able to keep punching."

Huni's response is simple.

"They can say what they want to say, but actions speak louder than words," Huni said.

"He said he's going to bring a little bit more pressure, that just means he is going to walk into more punches.

"I was very comfortable in there [against Tsoye], I was in my zone. It was all easy work for me. I've waited my whole life for this."

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